


SLVR

by saundersmarcelo



Category: Adventure - Fandom, RWBY, SLVR, action - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:22:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 145,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22156987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saundersmarcelo/pseuds/saundersmarcelo
Summary: If you watch the Rooster Teeth web series known as RWBY, then chances are you've heard of Team SLVR, a popular fan made group created by Mark Zhang. In my first ever fan fiction series, this story (which takes place in the main series/timeline of RWBY) will follow the lives of Simin Megistus and his team (Lycan Arcadia, Vella Moisia, and Ragora Cinarum). Where huntsmen and huntresses aren't enough, these vigilantes will take things into their own hands as they try to change the world the only way they know how: by fighting it.(was that a good description? I had never done one before)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Volume I: Chapter I: That Night

**Author's Note:**

> Quick heads up:  
> -expect strong language and graphic violence. I won't be holding my punches, but I also won't be going all out either.  
> -Although I said this will take place within the main timeline, I will be ignoring the comics, manga, anthologies, light novels, etc. (pretty much anything that isn't the main series or World of Remnant). This is mainly because I simply don't have the money or the time.  
> -Yes. I did get Mark Zhang's permission to write this fanfiction and use these characters.  
> -The timeline in this story is one that I constructed based off a lot of close and careful analyzation in the main series of RWBY  
> -The type of pacing for the story I'm writing is going to be a sort of "slow burn" approach, so if it feels a bit slow in parts, that's why. (However if it starts to get to the point that I'm dragging my feet, don't be shy to speak up. Pacing is something I'm still trying to work on and get better at)  
> -Lastly, no I will not be doing any shipping. Any and all interactions between all characters that is even remotely intimate or affectionate will be 100% platonic. This is mainly because I don't want to accidentally start a shipping war (and because I don't completely trust myself to write romance and make it good)

*Warning Graphic Violence!*

I wake up to the sounds of bells, screams, and the roars of the grimm as they tried to barrel through Dorado, my home village, located on the continent of Anima not very far from a rising village known as Oniyuri. I sit there petrified, tears beginning to cloud my eyes, in my bed not knowing what to do. I hear the sound of footsteps-- they are my mother's. I haven't heard them in so long. She rushes into my room and grabs me in a panic. My body is trembling, and my heart is racing as she wipes the tears rolling down my cheeks and carries my body, paralyzed with fear, down the stairs.

"It's okay sweetie! I've got you!" She says as she holds my head to her chest in an attempt to calm me down.

The screams are getting quieter and farther away as the grimm get louder and closer. Between my rushing heart and my racing mind, I can barely utter a single word other than a weak and shaky "mommy!"

As we near the door, it gets torn down in front of us. My mother freezes in her tracks, still holding my trembling body. A canine snout begins to poke through the doorway, the black mist steaming out of its mouth. The snout is followed by a pitch-black wolf's head with burning red eyes staring into my own. The creature slowly crawls into the house and I can see its full body. It looks like a cross between a man and a wolf. It looks to be about 7-8 feet tall if it were standing upright-- maybe even bigger. It had long arms and legs that looked like black massive pythons that could constrict their prey in a matter of seconds. Its enormous paws could easily fit my entire body in their grasp with gray dagger-like claws at the end of each finger. Its feet could effortlessly crush my entire body with the slightest bit of shift in its weight if it were to pin me with them. Its fur was blacker than the darkest void except for its face-- more specifically, its snout and the area around its eyes, which was hairless and looked to be made completely of bone. It was a beowolf. I had only heard stories of them, but I never thought I would encounter one in person.

There is about 10 feet between me and my mother and the beast. I look away with the tears still filling my eyes and bury my face into my mother's chest, cowering and whimpering in fear. I could still hear the growls of the beast getting closer and closer as my mother tightened her grip on me and began moving backward. I could feel my mother's heart beat faster and harder to the point I could hear it as well and her breathing quickly grew heavier and turned to hyperventilating. Judging from the steps she's taken backward; we are no longer in the living room and have been backed and cornered into the kitchen. I looked up at my mother's face. I had never seen such fear in her eyes. I felt her begin to compose herself as she looked down at me, this time with tears in her eyes. She tells me:

"Mommy loves you, sweetie. Don't ever forget that mommy loves you!"

With seemingly no other choice, she tosses me behind her and rushes the beast with a pocketknife that she always keeps on her in an attempt to protect me. She gave it a few stabs in the face but, unfazed, the beast swatted her across the kitchen, knocking her knife away in the process, with such ease that she looked weightless. Her body rag dolled in the air and slammed into the stone wall, knocking her unconscious and leaving a massive crack, and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. The beast lunged at her and began to sink its teeth and claws as it was tearing her limb from limb. I was frozen in place not knowing what to think, what to do, where to go, how to feel, what to say. Should I fight? What if it kills me too? Should I run for the door? I don't know. I don't want to leave mommy, but I also should get daddy who's fighting off the rest of them right now. I just don't know. 

I can't even muster the courage to move a muscle. A piece of my mother's flesh hits me in the face that snaps me out of it. After realizing what had just happened, I was so overcome with fear and despair, that the only thing I could manage to make myself do was scream and wail my lungs out as my mother was being torn to pieces in front of me. As the beast finished with my mother, it turned its full attention to me, who was still screaming for my father to save me. It's too late for me to run now.

It was now completely facing me, its face and claws now crimson red with my mother's blood. The beast drew nearer and nearer and started to close the distance between us. I could hear its low growls making my heart race to the point I thought it would explode. In an attempt to defend myself, I picked up my mother's pocket knife that was knocked toward me and used it to guard myself. The beast was now 3 feet in front of me. As it got closer, I could feel its hot breath against my face as the black mist emanating from its mouth clouded my vision; however, I could still see those burning red eyes piercing through and looking at me. I gave it a quick slash, but it didn't seem to do anything. It decided to back up a couple feet and I heard my father's voice shouting for me. He must have heard my screams. I shout for him and immediately after, the beast lunges toward me, its massive, black paws stretched out to grab me, enveloping my whole body.

"Sim! Wake up, Sim! Simin!" 

I wake up in a cold sweat to my father saying my name and shaking me awake, both hands on my shoulders. I quickly sat up, trying to regain my composure and catch my breath. My father wraps his arms around me to try and calm me down. 

"It's okay, Simin. The nightmare's over. I'm here." My father says still trying to comfort me. "Just take deep breaths, okay? In and out. In and out."

I slowly, but surely, begin to compose myself and eventually, I calmed myself down. My gray pajamas are drenched in sweat. It was over three years ago when I lost my mother that night. I was only 5 at the time and I'll be turning 9 soon. I've never been the same since, but, then again, what kind of kid would be the same after such horror? Since that day, grimm attacks have increased, for reasons no one knows. I wish I could just forget about that night. My head really hurts now.

I hear footsteps rushing up the stairs to my room. Those footsteps belong to my dog, Bruno. He bounds up the stairs and turns toward my room. He jumps on my bed, assaulting my face with licks and dog breath. Bruno is basically my best friend. I found him wandering Dorado one day when I was eating lunch outside-- probably a stray who lost his home and/or owner. He went up to me with a begging look on his face and I fed him. He followed me home and I, who loved animals let him inside. When my dad got home, he was slightly surprised. I was just as surprised when he didn't even so much as try to kick him out. He just said "Looks like we have an addition. And proceeded to leave and return with a bag of dog food. Though strange it was, I didn't question it. I assume he let him stay to help me cope with the loss of my mother. We've had him for a little over a year now and he has been such a wonderful friend. He is one of the main things that keeps me together.

When my father is working, which is now more than usual, Bruno is the only company I have. He keeps me from feeling lonely and cheers me up -- even if not by a lot-- and we pretty much take care of each other when dad is gone. He is a medium sized dog but compared to me, if I were facing him, we would be staring each other in the eye (I am about 3'10" by the way). From the end of his tail to the tip of his nose, he is about 3-4 feet. Wrapped around his neck is a scarlet and black bandana with a diamond shaped pattern. He has golden brown, long, thick fur on most of his body. The fur on his paws and stomach are white and he has a small patch of white fur in the center of his forehead that forms a white diamond. 

"Feel better yet?" My dad says in a soft, concerned tone.

I nod in response.

"Okay. Good." My father immediately goes into a slightly more serious tone. "I want you to get dressed and head downstairs. Your breakfast is ready. I'm going to be at work today so, unfortunately, it'll have to be just you and Bruno for the day. Try and get some fresh air alright?"

I nod.

"When I get back, we're going to train so I need you to be ready by then." He says before leaving the room.

I look over at my mother's pocketknife that sat on the nightstand beside my bed. It's all that I really have left of her to remember her by, which is why I always kept it around. I also really liked the design of the blade which had a sort of floral engraving on it. I let out a long sigh before getting up to dress myself in some tan shorts and an air force blue short-sleeved shirt. I slipped on my socks and put on my brown shoes and headed down. As I walk down the stairs, I am greeted by the smell and sound of simmering meat and eggs. I walk into the kitchen (which was now heavily renovated to the point of unrecognition) followed by my dad and Bruno, who lifts and places me onto the chair since it was too high for me to climb up on without it tipping. On the plate, there are two crispy pieces of bacon, cooked to a reddish-brown tint accompanied by a single sunny side-up egg. To drink, there was a glass of orange juice. I stare at my breakfast and start to get lost in thought. My father notices.

"It's not going to magically hop into your mouth you know." I could tell he was joking judging from the tone of his voice and slight chuckle under his breath.

I quickly snap out of it and begin to eat the breakfast my father prepared for me. I gulp down the orange juice and once finishing, my father lifts me off the chair and places me on the ground and takes my glass and plate. I have been speaking significantly less since then. For almost a year since then, I didn't utter a single word. But my dad and I have been making baby steps in my progress to get me speaking again. Nowadays I will speak every now and then, but I will sometimes go days or maybe even weeks at a time without saying a single word, but during those times, my father always recognizes when I thank him. I give him a hug and he replies with a "You're welcome, Sim."

Sim was the nickname he sometimes called me.

"I'm going to head to work now, Sim. Remember what I said."

I nod.

He bends down and kisses me on the forehead.

"Love you, Simin." He says softly.

As he heads out the door, he stops himself and pokes his head out from behind the door. "Oh! Uh, don't forget to feed Bruno."  
He then disappears behind the wooden door as it closes with a creak.

*Chapter End*

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading my first chapter. It really means a lot to me. I have been working on this Volume since June last year, and I honestly feel pretty excited/nervous about it. I should let you know that this is a demo chapter and that Volume I is currently being worked on as we speak. I am currently working on chapter 13 and (including 13) have about 5 left to go. Once Volume I is complete, I will start posting weekly every Friday at around 5:00 EST. I should also let you know that a very good portion of this series takes place before the main series with Volume I taking place about 8 years (I'll have to check my math) before the main series starts. Volume I is also basically going to be a prologue of sorts to the main story (my main story, not the main RWBY series) and it will only be focusing on Simin Megistus, so we will not be meeting the other three just yet. Lastly, once Volume I is complete, I will also (hopefully) be posting the story on Wattpad and fanfiction.net under the same author name in case anything were to happen here and also to give my readers multiple options in case they have a preferred way to read this. 

Anyway, if you have any advice/constructive criticism, please feel free to give it to me. I'm doing this not just because I want to write a fanfiction, but also because I want to be a better writer and I am constantly looking for ways to improve myself, so advice/constructive criticism is always appreciated. If you liked this chapter and are interested or excited to see where the story goes, please spread the word.

By the way, I will not be posting on the weeks of New Years, Christmas, Easter (More specifically Holy Week since Easter falls on a Sunday), and Thanksgiving. And since I'm 19 years old and in college (although I was 18 when I started working on this), there might be some weeks that don't fall into those categories where I won't post like midterms, finals week, or pretty much any week with an exam, or any week where I just have a lot of work to do like if I have multiple papers to work on or something. I promise I will give you a heads up if that ever happens.

One last thing! Sorry if I'm being a bit longwinded here, but I just want to let you know that I also like to drop fun facts (if you want to call them fun) at the end of every chapter about the development or writing process of said chapter just for a bit of fun and hopefully, maybe amuse the reader with some (hopefully) interesting information. I guess you could say it's a little peek behind the scenes or something. Like this one, for example:

Fun Fact #1: This chapter was originally supposed to be the first chapter of a different fanfic I was thinking of writing, but I ended up scrapping it at the last minute and repurposed the chapter for this SLVR fanfiction.

Anyway, I think that's all I have for today. I will (hopefully) see you again once I finish Volume I (which might be sometime in the next couple months (assuming school doesn't slow me down)).  
See you once I'm finished and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night wherever you are!


	2. Volume I: Chapter II: Dorado

Believe it or not, my father, Jonah Megistus, is actually an outsider in Dorado. According to the story my mother used to tell me, he showed up in Dorado one day just to pass by, but later that night, a large horde of grimm attacked. When things were looking bleak for the village and its people, he single-handedly fought them off as if he was a one-man army, to the shock of everyone who saw. He was almost immediately accepted as a hero and his skill in fighting made him the most revered man in the village, since Maria Calavera (a former resident of Dorado from many, many years ago). The people wanted him to stay and even offered to build him a home. He was a bit hesitant about it at first, so he decided to stay a week and give it some thought. During that week, he was greeted by many people who wanted to give their thanks and they even brought him gifts as well, but he was very stand-offish since he wanted to be left to himself. As far as I can tell, from the story, my father was a loner and wasn’t used to getting this much attention. 

Anyway, one of those people he met was a young woman wearing tattered, dirty clothes. However, unlike everyone else, she had nothing to bring him since she did not have much (if anything at all) to give. She was homeless and spent her days begging for food in the market and her nights sleeping there. Because she didn’t have anything to give, she instead wrote him a poem to show her gratitude. She loved to write (especially when she felt inspired). He was immediately intrigued by her and wanted to see her more despite her situation and ragged appearance. He would visit her in the market often throughout the week, usually bringing food and drink with him to share with her, and realized he was falling in love with her and those feelings were mutual. By the end of the week, my father decided that he would be staying as guardian of the village. The people constructed a house for him-- the house him and I currently still live in-- located not far from the center of town but closer to the eastern section. He then gave her a home by taking her into his own. For a few years, it was just the two (by that point) lovers living together. Then next thing you know, the woman became pregnant and nine months later, she would become a mother—my mother. My mother would stay home and take care of me as well as the house while my father was out protecting and guarding Dorado.

My father is basically the “guardian” of Dorado. Whenever there is a grimm attack or a bandit raid, it would be his job to fend them off. Regarding the fighting, he always did it on his own, but not because the town refuses to lend help, but because he refuses to receive it. I guess he prefers to work alone. He still has a bit of that loner personality from many years ago still in him. However, there are people in Dorado who voluntarily serve as watchmen. Whenever they see a horde of grimm or a bandit party, they will ring a bell to put the village on alert and summon my dad to come fight. In return, the people pay him by giving us a portion of their supplies, or livestock, or tools as a way of saying “Thanks.” You are probably wondering why they don’t just pay us with Lien since that is the currency in the world of Remnant. Well, you see, Dorado isn’t like the other kingdoms or villages in Remnant. We pay each other through trading, whether it’s supplies, or tools, or whatever. 

Back to the present, I go upstairs and quickly brush my teeth to get rid of my morning breath. After that, I head back down and walk to the backroom and grab a container to scoop up some dog food for Bruno. Bruno trots to the bowl and starts eating his food and I walk to the window in the living room to take a look outside. A blue sea fills the sky as there are currently no clouds occupying it. It looks to be about 11 a.m. judging from the eastern clock tower that also serves as one of the four watchtowers that are located in each corner of the village. It doesn’t look to be very windy either so I think I will leave my jacket behind. 

I pulled the door open and stepped outside my home. The lukewarm air feels nice. Days like these are rare so I might as well enjoy this one while I still can. Since that night, as I said before, grimm attacks have increased for reasons no one knows and because of that, dad has been working much more than usual.

Dorado isn’t a very large village, I’ll admit, but it is very comfortable to live in despite that. It is surrounded by a white stone wall, forming a diamond around the city with one tower that serves as a clock/watch tower on each corner. The village is divided into five sections: Luna (the west quadrant), Día (the north quadrant), Noche (the south quadrant), Sol (the east quadrant and the side that I live on), and the center area is known as La Estrella Marketplace. 

Día is the agricultural quadrant and the only quadrant without a gate to enter and leave through mainly to prevent animals from getting in and stealing or killing livestock. However, there is a pretty big tree whose branches reach the wall that an animal could use to get in and out (if it uses the tower to get up and down the wall), but we are planning to cut it down tomorrow. It is mainly used for gardening, farming, and harvesting of crops. It’s where most of our food comes from. It is also where most livestock are kept as well as some animals that are captured during the occasional hunts in case we ever run low on stock. In short, Día is basically a mini farm. I like to go there a lot to interact with the animals and clear my head due to the openness of the place. It is the least populated section of the village as well, so it is very quiet there most of the time.

Luna and Sol are the main living sections. Sol and Luna are both suburban neighborhoods; however, the homes are constructed a bit differently on both sides. The homes in Sol are like traditional neighborhood homes with grass lawns (some of which have fences around them and stone porches). The houses themselves are usually two floors, but there are some that are one floor and are L-shaped. The houses are built with wooden shingles (sometimes painted) and usually have shingle roofs as well. The homes in Luna are very similar only they are made of stone and usually have red, clay tile roofs.

Noche is probably the most active quadrant. It’s where you can find taverns and other places to spend the night, especially if you're just passing through and need a place to stay. It attracts a lot of outsiders. In fact, on a regular basis, there are more outsiders that occupy it at a time than there are Dorado villagers in that area. Dad always tends to avoid Noche for some reason, but I’m not too sure why. He only goes unless he absolutely has to. As for me, I’m not allowed over there under any circumstances, so I tend to avoid it as well. 

The last section, as well as my favorite, is La Estrella Marketplace. There, you can trade things for supplies, or crops, meat, etc. You can find pretty much anything you need there. I don’t really like it in the mornings though since it is pretty densely crowded. But at night, it becomes a completely different environment. In the center of the marketplace, there is a beautiful fountain with a star-shaped statue at the top and at night, when the moon is in the right position, the moonlight hits the statue in a way that it makes it appear as if it’s glowing. I find it even more magnificent when the lanterns that align with the perimeter of it are lit. It makes me feel so serene and it is such a tranquil environment to be in. On nights when I can’t sleep or when I wake up late at night because of those nightmares, I sneak out at and feed the animals such as the fish living inside, turtles, ducks, and other animals it attracts. I find it very relaxing. My mother and I used to do it a lot when I was younger. Now I just go alone, but I always bring an extra piece of bread with me for her. I know I can’t actually do it with her, but the extra piece of bread is comforting to me because it feels like she’s there with me when I feed the animals.  
I stand in the shade of the overhang of my roof that looms over the stone porch and close the door behind me. I decided to wait a couple minutes for Bruno to follow me through the dog door. Some days he’ll follow me around town and other days he stays inside. I wait for a few more seconds for Bruno and it seems like he’s not coming out today. I step out from under the shade of the overhang and into the outside world (or at least, as outside as the world can get while inside the stone walls of Dorado) and head toward Día. This early August (4th) air feels nice.

Unfortunately for me, my home is closer to La Estrella than it is to Día despite Día and Sol being right next to each other. This means I have to walk through the crowded marketplace in order to get there. It’s more crowded than usual today. For me, that is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s bad because I am usually not great around a lot of people (probably got that from my dad), but it is also good because there are so many, no one will notice or pay me any mind, especially if I just blend in and try to avoid the booths. I begin fording through the sea of people and almost ended up bumping into a tall, tan-skinned man, wearing a green tunic with gold accents (probably a tavern manager) who was trading with a short, pale, red-haired woman (most likely a farmer) a dozen eggs for a half gallon of milk. I then see an opening behind one of the booths (a pastry and baked goods booth I might add) for me to sneak through while the person tending to it was preoccupied with a customer. As I get behind the booth and try to make the rest of my way through, I hear the voice of the person tending to it call my name.

“Hey Simin! I made a peach pie that I saved for you and your dad. Be sure to pick it up once the day’s over, okay?”

In response, I just give him a thumbs up and a nod as I slide through and quicken my pace a bit. He’s a good friend of my dad (and a really good baker). He likes to give us free desserts every now and then. There was one time where he gave us some banana bread muffins and cream-filled glazed donuts. They were amazing! It was also the time I realized donuts are my weakness (which is why I stay away from them. They are just so tempting). After about a minute of squeezing and weaving my way through the hustle and bustle, I manage to break out and get to Día. 

There is a man who lives in Día that I sort of know. I’m heading over to his house right now. His name is Aaron Noel. He’s also an outsider who came to Dorado about a year or so ago (or at least, that’s what he told me). I reach his home, which is not very large compared to the ones in Sol and Luna. I step on his wooden porch that causes a loud creak as I put my pressure on the planks and I open his screen door and give a couple knocks on the wooden door right behind it. I hear the heavy footsteps of someone walking to the door and what sounds like someone muttering under their breath that sounded like something along the lines of, “He’s later than usual.” The old, beat-up knob of his door turns and the door opens with a low creak, revealing a tall, slim, tan man with tired eyes (one of which has a deep, vertical scar underneath starting from under his eyelid and ending in the middle of his right cheek) and a freshly shaved face, whose beard appeared to have already been making its return. He’s wearing black gardening boots, cargo shorts with a murky shade of green, a white t-shirt, and a large, sun hat that looks like the straw holding it together was starting to fall apart. His arms and legs were covered in hair, making him look almost like a malnourished grizzly bear due to his thin frame, but I assume that is due to a very high metabolism considering his piece of land always had a lot of food in it, so there is no way for him to go hungry. He also had a bandage that always covered his right hand. He looks down toward me and says with his low, slightly rough voice:

“Hey, kid! I was starting to wonder if you’d show up today. I’ll get you a couple bags.” 

He turns around and heads toward a back room. As he does so, the low collar of his t-shirt reveals some kind of burn around the base of his neck that forms three letters: “SDC”. On his lower back hangs a stub of what’s left of what used to be a lion’s tail-- presumably from some accident or dangerous encounter. I once tried asking him about it and where he came from and all that, but he was dismissive and told me not to ask him again for both of our sakes. I don’t exactly know what he meant by that. He’s very secretive. Someday, I’ll learn his past, but that won’t be any time soon. He soon returns with a couple small bags filled with corn kernels and hands both of them to me.

“I should let you know there’s also a basket of apples by the stables if you want to feed the horses when you're done. But that’s for later. Right now, I want you to feed the chickens, the goats, and the sheep. I’ll take care of the other animals like the pigs and cows and tend to the gardening and harvesting of crops.” He says looking outside to see how sunny it might be. “That sound okay?”

I nod in response.

“Alright. Get to feeding then come back here when you’re done. You can just leave the bags on the porch and then you can go and feed the horses or whatever. I’ll most likely still be tending to the crops when you’re done, so you don’t have to check in with me. You can just head home after that. Okay?”

With a nod, I walk away with the two bags-- one in each hand-- and walk toward the sheep and goats first. You are probably wondering how this guy knows me and how I got a “job” as an animal feeder. I was nearing my eighth birthday-- it was two months away to be exact. I would come down here often and pick apples from trees in the orchard and use them to feed the horses in the stables. One day when I was climbing a tree and was reaching for a shiny, red apple, I heard a voice:  
“Hey! Whaddya think you’re doing?! Get down from there!”

I followed the voice’s order and climbed down and the owner of said voice walked up and confronted me.

“So, you’re the one who’s been stealing from the orchard.” The man said.

Turned out the apple trees belonged to the visibly annoyed man, who planted them in his orchard.

“Now answer me this, son: for what reason are you stealing from my apple orchard?”

I didn’t really know what to do and since this was when I was having difficulty speaking, I was having trouble trying to say anything.

“What’s wrong, son? Did you not think you’d get caught? Now I asked you a question. Why...are you stealing.... from my orchard? Are you hungry? Is that it?”

Instead of speaking, all I did was point over to the stables and hoped he would put 2 and 2 together.

“What about them? Oh, are you telling me you wanted to feed the horses?”

Relieved, I nodded, confirming that he was correct with his guess. He then looked away nodding to himself as if he was thinking something. He then started walking toward the pens and gestured for me to follow.  
“Come with me, you and I are going to do some work. Regardless of your reason, I can’t just let you take things that don’t belong to you, kid. Especially without asking.”

I followed him to the pens and he handed me a bag and we pretty much spent the day feeding all the livestock (which I’ll admit, I actually liked. I love animals). Afterwards, we sat down for a bit and he asked me something.  
“I could tell you we’re enjoying yourself back there. You like animals, don’t you?”

I nodded.

“Then how about I make you a deal? Care to hear it?”

Again, I nodded with an audible “mhm.” 

“I can’t have you just come and take apples from my orchard, even if you were only just trying to feed my horses. You see, I grow those apples so I can trade them at the market on the weekends. So here’s the deal: whenever you feel like coming over, instead of taking them without permission, you come over whenever you want and help me feed the livestock for a bit and I’ll even let you feed the horses some apples from the orchard in return when we’re done. And if you’re feeling hungry, you can even take an apple or two for yourself as well-- but no more than two. Got it? Is that okay with you?”

I signaled with a final nod.

“You’re a quiet one, aren’t you? Well alright. It’s settled then. I guess I’ll see you next time you feel like coming over then. Anyway, I suggest you head on home now. It’s starting to get dark.”

I got up from my spot and as I turned around and walked a bit into my short journey out of Sol, I heard the man call for me.

“Hey, kid! One more thing:”

I turn and see a bright red, round object flying toward me. It was an apple. I caught it and looked back at him in a way that I was silently asking if he was sure he was okay with giving it to me.  
“The name’s Aaron Noel! And stop looking at me like that. Just take it. Consider it a token of gratitude.”

With that, I waved to him and headed back home, eating the apple. Since then, I’ve been returning every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday that I am able and helped with feeding the animals and I would get to give the horses some apples in return as well as take a few with me.

Back to the present, I walk off to the pens with the two burlap bags of corn kernels and head over to where the goats and sheep are held. I take the bag from the bottom and take care not to let the kernels spill on the ground. Still holding it from the bottom with one hand, I take my other hand and hold the bag from the side as I pour half the kernels out for the sheep and do the same for the goats, who all in unison, raise their heads in curiosity and all head over to eat. I then head to the chickens, who were conveniently right next to the goats, and I take handfuls of kernels out and toss them into the crowd of the feathered creatures and I keep doing this until the bag is empty. After I’m done, I go to the porch to drop off the two bags and head over to the stables.

Upon reaching the stables, I see a gray metal bucket filled to the brim with red apples. I take an apple from the bucket and put it in my pocket for later and begin to feed the horses. I take an apple and hold it to a horse’s mouth, remembering to keep my palm open and let it take it from my hand. One by one, the apples disappear and about ten minutes later, all the apples (except two) were gone. I then decided to pocket the remaining two apples and head back home.

As I go through the marketplace, there is no sea of people for me to wade through now. I made sure to stop by the pastry stand from earlier and pick up the pie the man left for me. In return, I left one of the apples I took with me on the stand as a token of gratitude. Due to the lack of people in the marketplace, I end up reaching my home much quicker than it took for me to get to Día earlier this morning. I opened the door and I was immediately greeted by an excited Bruno. I pet him under the chin and proceed to give him some more food. I then sit at the table and take the apple out of my pocket and start eating it as I wait for my father to return from work so we can train.

A few hours pass until my father finally arrives home. We have dinner, which consisted of rice, chicken, and a cup of tea. Being the occasionally forgetful child that I am, I immediately grab the cup of tea and burn my fingers when grabbing the cup, almost causing me to spill it. I fanned my now burning fingers in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

“Easy, Simin. You okay?” My father said with a hint of concern in his voice. “Might want to wait a little longer. Here... this should help.” My father says handing me a rag to grab so I can hold the cup.

I take those words to heart and wait before using the rag to hold the tea and give it a few gentle blows before taking a sip. It tastes like chamomile. We finished our dinner and tea and my dad informs me that we will be training soon.

“We’re going to train at 10:30 which is in about half an hour.” He says, looking out the window toward the Sol tower.

“I am going to get ready. In the meantime, I want you to go to the yard and wait for me there. But don’t just sit there and do nothing while you wait for me. I want you warmed up by the time I get back. Tonight, we will be sparring... and I will be using my weapons, which means you will be fighting unarmed. As always, I won’t be going easy on you, but I will be merciful.” My father shoots me a look and then shifts his eyes to the door, signaling that I should get going.  
I head out to the front yard and warm up by stretching. I start off with my legs, then my sides, then my shoulders. I started practicing moves and techniques until he emerges from the open doorway of our home a few moments later with a pair of sais that double as firearms. The handles were similar to pistols and he could either fire at enemies from either afar or as he is striking them with the back ends, causing extra damage. Sometimes he would use the recoil of the weapon to boost his strikes in both speed and power when stabbing. One of these days, I hope to have my own weapons-- similar to his, but also completely different if that makes sense.

“Here are the stipulations for tonight’s session:” He announces. “Your goal is to strike me once. No more. No less. I mean, you can strike me more than once if you want-- if you can--, but your primary goal is that you need to at least hit me once to win. And it needs to be a solid strike. Not a grazed hit. A SOLID strike. More importantly, a solid hit on any of my vital areas. If you hit me in any vital area, it’s over and you win… or you can try and apprehend me. But, if I apprehend you or strike you, then it’s over and I win. Those are the stipulations for tonight. Is there anything I need to repeat?”

I shake my head no.

“Are you ready?” He asked, his tone switching from the laid back one I usually hear to a more serious one.

I nod and get into a fighting stance. During our sparring sessions, I no longer face the man who is my father. From that point up until one of us strikes or apprehends the other, he is my opponent.

“Okay. Then let’s get started.”

*Chapter End*

Hey, everyone! That concludes chapter two of Volume one of my SLVR fanfiction. Next chapter will be my first ever fight scene, so that should be fun. Now before we get to the fun fact for this chapter, I need to say something first:

I have a confession to make: Volume one is still not completed yet (but don't worry. That doesn't mean I just gave up midway through or lost motivation and am just leaving it here or anything like that. I am still working on it and have actually just finished revising chapter 14 last night).

So you're probably now wondering why I am even posting another chapter despite the volume not yet being completed. Now I did say that I would hopefully start posting in a couple months (which was a couple months ago that I said that), but I'm not doing it because I'm just trying to stay on schedule or anything like that. The real reason is with everything that's going on in the world right now and these scary times we're currently going through, I felt now would be the best time for me to start posting and hopefully distract everyone and get everyone's minds off of what's happening even for just a little bit. We are all going through a very stressful and anxiety filled time right now and I want to try and help alleviate it in some way,  
shape, or form through my writing.

Right now, the amount of content I currently have should last about 4 months (maybe slightly more or less since I will be writing more chapters while I am posting). So this means that until I run out, (starting with the next chapter) I will be posting regularly a new chapter every Friday on Wattpad as well as Fanfiction.net and archiveofourown. 

This isn't going to affect my writing process however. In other words, this doesn't mean that I am going to start rushing to finish the volume or anything like that. I will still be working at my normal pace (while also juggling class assignments) so I don't end up rushing or half-baking anything. 

Also with schools shutting down and the hectic week I just had along with transitioning to online courses, I can't promise that the new chapter will be posted this Friday. If I don't post this Friday, then it will be next Friday. And if I don't post next Friday, then chances are I'm probably dead or got into an accident that caused me to lose my hands. Anyway, I'll give an update in the comment section in case anything develops.

I think that's all I have to say for tonight so I will leave you with this message:

Stay safe. 

Stay healthy. 

And most importantly, 

Stay strong.

And as promised:

Fun fact #2: Aaron was supposed to have a sort of thick Southern accent, but it was so tedious for me to type and read that I just had him speak with no accent. Also Aaron wasn't his original name. I changed his name at the last second when I did a second revision for Chapter 2.


	3. Volume I: Chapter III: Valuable Lessons

I stand only 10 feet (3 meters) from my opponent, evaluating his stance to judge how I should approach and engage him. Despite it being 10:30 at night, the place was surprisingly bright. The moonlight bathing Dorado, illuminates the area, making it easier to see my surroundings. I try to tune out any outside noises to better focus, such as the chirping crickets and the occasional rustle of leaves when a soft breeze would blow by. After tuning out my distractions, the only thing I hear is the sound of my own breath. The only thing I feel is my heart beating as it pumps the blood that courses through me. Everything around me has ceased to exist. All that is left is me and my opponent.

5 seconds have past and I begin to gingerly inch my way closer to my opponent. If there is one thing I’ve learned from our sparring sessions, he likes to approach his 1v1’s with a defensive strategy. He lures opponents in, forcing them to make the first move. He then counters whatever move it is they make and capitalizes by attacking their most vital points that he has opened up. I believe I can use this to my advantage if I can just lure him--or force him-- into making the move I want him to make.

I decide I will go for a move he would expect. I step on his right leg for a bit of leverage and immediately bring my other leg up to try and kick him on the left side of his head-- more specifically the temple. He parries it over him (as I predicted) and as my right leg is coming over, I turn my body in a way so that as I’m coming down, I use the same leg (that is now on his right side) to sweep him by giving a swift kick in his right knee, briefly knocking him off his feet. I went for the knee because (aside from giving me a brief window to strike) my father goes on about his ageing and how his legs aren’t “as young as they used to be” and I can use that to my advantage here. However, this will be my only chance to strike him after getting him in position using this method. He’s not the kind of person to allow the same thing to happen to him twice.

I hit the ground a few feet away from him and I get up, I can see he’s already recovering. I rush to land a knee strike with my right leg on his head before he could fully recover, but just as I am about to make the strike, he tosses one of his sais toward my foot in a way that my left ankle gets caught in one of the gaps with the middle spike getting stuck in the ground. He wanted to throw me off balance. He swiftly moves his body in front of me and catches my right knee, ready to capitalize on the opening. He flips his other sai over and is about to hit me in the gut with the blunt side, but I bring my left hand down and knock his shot to the side and it barely misses me. But I didn’t realize that was a diversion from his real move. 

He attempts a sweep, still holding onto my trapped right leg and he is successful, but it also knocked the other sai lodged in the ground that was trapping my left foot, freeing it in the process. I decided to bring my left foot up in the split-second window I had and roll backward with my fall and kick him off me as I do (though not very well since he lands a bit to my right side). Noticing that the sai that was in the ground is free, I scramble for it before he notices. I grab it by the time he bounces back up to his feet and he sees it in my hand. Before I move up to him, I notice he’s briefly stopped. He wants me to make the next move so he can capitalize again. I hope I don’t regret what I’m about to do.

Instead of using the sai to fight him, I toss it behind me. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t risk him disarming me (which he could very easily do) and getting it back, putting me at an even bigger disadvantage than I would be in if it were just an unarmed me versus him with only half of his weaponry.

“Interesting choice.” He says with a little bit of surprise in his voice from my gamble. “You better try your damnedest if you want to keep me from getting it back.”

I engage my opponent again this time throwing a straight left jab, forcing him to move out of the way to the outside of my attempted strike. I expected him to go for a strike at my open midsection or head that I was prepared to counter, but he instead goes for something different that I wasn’t anticipating. As he dodges, he holds out his sai that is in his left hand and hooks my wrist. He then places his free hand on my back to hold me in place to prevent me from being whipped around while my left arm is being pulled behind me. With my arm being held in such a fashion, that it is now starting to actually hurt, I feel a force push me down and I realized he was trying to put me in some kind of arm bar or something to get me to submit. Next thing you know, I get a face full of dirt as I fall to the ground as he is quickly getting in position. This all happens in about the span of a second. 

Not knowing what else to do (but still remembering the rule that any strike to a vital area is an automatic win), I manage to wriggle myself forward enough that I might be able to land a solid kick with the back of my foot on his head or neck. If he doesn’t notice my kick, I hit him in a potentially vital area, and I win. If he does notice, he will have no choice but to release me and get out of the way. I feel the pressure on me immediately lift and my arm being freed as I go for the kick. He must have noticed then. But then, at that moment, I realized my mistake. I gave him that window to get behind me and retrieve his other weapon. He now has both sais again, putting me back to square one.

I immediately get up and charge toward him in hopes of ending it here and now before he can turn around and take notice. I try to get a knee on his gut, but it seems like he was expecting me to do something like that because he simultaneously stops me in my tracks and parries it, spinning me around in the process. I try to recover by going along with the momentum of the spin to hit him with an elbow in the liver with my right arm. He blocks it with his right arm. I then raise my fist with that same arm to attempt a back fist on the now opened right side of his head, but he barely moves back far enough to dodge. I take this moment to fully face my opponent again.

As he leans back after his dodge, I go for a kick to the side of his head again (this time on the right side of his head) and he catches it. I see him moving his leg and about to place his forearm to my chest. He’s about to sweep me again! I make a gamble and jump with my free leg. I, now with no leg to stand on, must execute the next move perfectly. I lean my body backwards and kick off his leg while using the force of his push by his forearm as extra momentum to slip out and get myself free while gaining some breathing room. I almost land on the back of my neck in the process, but I rotated myself enough that I could get my hands down and land on my feet. After seeing where I landed, I realize I’m in the same spot where he tried to put me in an armbar—more specifically where I got the face full of dirt. 

I now have enough space. He probably doesn’t want to give me time to think, so he will try to quickly close the gap. My opponent then rushes up to strike me. Though expected, it is still unusual of him given his defensive strategy. I wonder if he knows he’s running into a trap. I grab some dust from the ground and toss it in the air to create a bit of a smoke screen. Once he runs into it, it’ll get into his eyes and I can take the opening while in the cover of the temporary smoke screen.  
He runs into the smoke screen. Yes! Now’s my chance! I swiftly and carefully circle behind him to land a strike. As the dust clears, I move up and prepare to make my move to strike him with a right punch. Victory is mine!

Just as I make the move, he dodges to the side. Using the momentum of the punch against me, he grabs my wrist and sweeps my legs. I fall forward and he turns me over on my back, still in control of my right arm and uses one of his sais to pin my left arm to the ground. He then places his right knee on my left shoulder, making it even more impossible for me to move. He’s even positioned himself so that I can’t even strike him with my legs this time. He then takes his remaining sai with his free hand and holds his weapon just mere centimeters from my throat. That happened within a span of five seconds. How is he so quick? It was almost like he knew I was going to try that. Just like that I went from holding my ground, about to make the final blow to being tossed on the ground and defeated.

“I knew you would try something like that, so I willingly took the bait to turn your trap into my trap. You shouldn’t get so cocky or overconfident. Never assume victory is guaranteed because of a good move. Nothing is guaranteed, especially victory. It may be highly likely, but it is never guaranteed. And because of that you must be prepared for anything and everything. Always assume the enemy knows or is at least somewhat aware of what you’ll do next. And if you do that, you will never get cocky and you will never get caught off guard.” 

He took his knee off of me, freed my left arm, and put his weapons away. After registering what just happened, I sat up and just sat there hanging my head in defeat. I’ve been training with him for about two and a half years now and I still can’t come close to beating him-- even when he was clearly holding back. I’m not strong enough. I’m still too weak.

I was so busy being disappointed in myself, I didn’t even notice my father holding his hand out to pull me up and he started to take notice.

“Hey. Don’t get so down on yourself, okay, Sim? I can tell from the look on your face that you’re beating yourself up. Right now, you’re probably thinking that you’re weak and that you’re not strong enough aren’t you?”

Man, he’s observant. He read me like a book.

“Look at me, Simin. Pick your head up.” He continued.

I slowly raise my head and my eyes meet his own.

“It’s okay to be weak. No one is born strong. We all have to start somewhere before we start growing. However, there will come a time and a place where being weak will no longer be an option. You won’t be able to rely on anyone anymore, but yourself. In this world, there are people and creatures that don’t care if you are weak and will try to take advantage of that. If you want to survive, if you want to live the life you want, you need to be strong enough to fight for it and defend it as well as the people you want to live that life alongside from those who want to take it away from you. Simin, this world will push you. It will try to knock you around. And it may even break you. That is an inevitability. And in times like that, weakness stops becoming an option and strength starts becoming a requirement.

“Besides...” he then sits down next to me and puts his hand on my shoulder as we sit in the moonlit grass. “You’re pretty strong anyway. You’ve grown so much since we started training. You may not have noticed it, but I certainly have. I’ve even had to hold back a little less. I remember when you were tripping over yourself when we first started and now look at you.” He says trying to (successfully) cheer me up. “However,” he continues. “That doesn’t mean you’re anywhere near the peak yet. You still have a lot of climbing to do. Don’t forget that, okay?”

I nod, giving him a quiet “mhm” sound.

“But let me tell you another thing, Simin. This will be my most valuable lesson to you, so listen close. In this world, out of all the scary monsters and bad people out there, none of them can have a greater effect on you than you can. You have the ability to be your greatest ally, or your worst enemy. Do you know what I mean?”

I shake my head no.

“What I mean is basically that you shouldn’t sell yourself short or allow yourself to get so discouraged or disheartened. Don’t stand in your own way. If you stand in your own way, you’ll only hold yourself back and hurt your growth. You know your weaknesses and your strengths more than anyone. So instead of hanging your head in shame and defeat, change that to determination to improve and learn so you can turn your weaknesses into strengths while also making your current strengths even stronger. You have the ability to push yourself to greater heights and break through your limits. You have what it takes. I know it. Your mother knows it.” 

He then looks up at the shattered moon and I follow suit. It’s very rare that he would bring up mom these days. I can’t even remember the last time he brought her up. After a few moments of silence, he begins to speak again.

“You have your mother’s heart, you know that?” He chuckles to himself. “That reminds me of a joke I used to always say around her. I would always say that you had her heart, but you have my guts. She would always hate that joke for some reason. But I always got a kick out of it. She’s watching us right now I bet-- from up there.” He says, still staring at the shattered moon. “She loved you with all her heart you know. She wants to see you grow into a fine young man and I will be the one to get you there. She may not have the best seat in the house anymore, but she can see us without a doubt. So, let’s not let her down. Let’s make her proud.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder as we sit on the grass watching the moon, counting all the broken shards and fragments to ourselves. After a few minutes, he speaks again. 

“Alright now come on. Let’s get you into a bath and then into a bed. It’s late anyway.”

He stands up and gives me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up and then kneels down to dust me off. We then head inside and call it a night.

After a quick bath, I get into my blue pajamas and lay in bed as my father tucks me in. Bruno walks to the end of my bed and goes to sleep at the foot of it. 

“Goodnight, Simin. Love you.” He says softly before kissing me on the temple and leaving the room, letting the door slowly shut itself with a click. I then take a look at my mother’s knife sitting on my nightstand.

Good night, mom.

I then close my eyes and patiently wait to fall asleep.

* * * 

I can’t sleep! I think to myself with a bit of frustration. 

I hate when this happens. Nights like these where I cannot seem to get even so much as a wink. I’ve been trying to sleep for at least an hour now, but I don’t feel tired in the slightest. Perhaps it’s the adrenaline still going through me from earlier? Or maybe it’s because of my nightmare this morning. Almost like I’m subconsciously trying to stay awake out of fear of reliving the nightmare of what happened to my mother like some kind of emotional or psychological defense mechanism? Is that a thing?

I get up from my bed and look outside toward the Sol Tower. It looks like it says it’s about 12:30 a.m. I walk to the door of my room, trying not to wake Bruno who is softly snoozing, his body slowly heaving in and out like a balloon being deflated and re-inflated over and over again. I gently open the door, careful not to make any creaks that could wake up father or Bruno. I always like to wait a few seconds when I do this just to make sure I was successful in being silent enough. Once I feel the coast is clear, I sneak downstairs and head to the kitchen. It’s very dark. However, there is enough moonlight coming in through the window for me to see. If there wasn’t, I probably would have stubbed my toe on a table or chair leg. That would definitely have woken Bruno and dad up. I walk over to the counter and grab two loaves of bread-- one for me and one for mom.

I tip-toe back up the stairs, bringing the bread with me to my room and I slowly and silently close my door and head to the closet to change into the clothes I wore earlier and grab my shoes. I then head to the window of my room and open it and check behind me to make sure I didn’t wake Bruno. Before deciding to climb out, I double check to make sure I have everything. Two bread loaves? Check! My shoes? Check! Door closed? Check! Okay. I think I’m good to go. I toss my shoes out and begin my exit.

The reason why I use the window and not the front or back doors is because they are much larger and heavier and because of that, they make a louder noise whenever I try to close them and the last thing I want is to get caught in the act. I gingerly climb out the window, sticking my feet out first and the rest of me following suit (and making sure to leave the window cracked open to prevent any small animals—like raccoons-- from getting in) and make my slow descent with the loaves of bread-- one in my shirt and the other in my teeth. I almost lost my grip on my way down, but I managed to recover. As I reach the end of my descent, my bare feet make contact with the cool, dewy grass, as I successfully finish my short journey. I always loved the feeling of walking on wet grass, which is why I decided not to put my shoes on before-hand. It just feels so cool and refreshing. Plus, it kinda tickles-- like walking on wet paint brushes. 

I turn my head as I hear a slight rustle followed by a pitter-patter of what sounds like what could be a small animal moving around. The raccoon might be trying his luck again with the neighbors’ trash. Wouldn’t be the first time and definitely won’t be the last. I decide to ignore the hairy, intruding thief and turn my head away as I take the bread from under my shirt and the other from my teeth and begin to make my way toward La Estrella Marketplace. I’m surprised the sky is still so clear--not that I’m complaining. This makes it easier for me to see where I’m going.

It’s so much quieter and more tranquil at this time of night. I follow the path and I am eventually greeted by the faint glow that is the star statue on top of the fountain being illuminated by the moonlight. I can also see the slightly fainter flickering of yellowish green lights as the fireflies slowly fly around as if they are dancing to a song that only they can hear around the marketplace, seemingly mesmerized by the glow of the star statue. As I get closer, I can even hear the quacking of ducks that like to wade in the fountain as well as the occasional splash of the fish living there. It’s so different when fewer people are around.

As I step into the ring of lit lanterns that align the perimeter of the marketplace, I take a moment to take in what is around me. It’s amazing how different this area is at night-- how something so dense with people in the mornings can become so empty. So... lifeless. I honestly prefer it this way. No noise. No people. Not a living soul. It almost feels like I actually did fall asleep and am actually having a nice dream for once. Or maybe it’s the world around me that is in a dream-like state. Either way, this is nice. All the stands that everyone would flock around to like birds around a person with breadcrumbs are empty and devoid of people. I am probably the only living soul occupying this marketplace. It’s so quiet, the only sounds accompanying me are the chorus of chirping crickets and the occasional quack of a duck wading in the fountain. It also wasn’t that dark due to the combination of the moonlight, lanterns, and the dancing fireflies, which gave everything a bit of a dim, ambient appearance. It’s hard to believe this is even real sometimes. Am I sure I’m not dreaming?

I walk up to the fountain and take my shoes off so I can sit on the edge of it and dip my feet in the cool water. I took out the two loaves of bread and I placed mom’s loaf beside me and proceeded to pull pieces out of the other and toss them into the fountain. The ducks took notice and began to wade their way toward me and began to gobble up the pieces one by one. One of the ducks gets close to my hand and I place a piece of bread in its open bill. After eating the piece, it gives me a quack. Maybe it was saying “thank you.” 

“You’re welcome”. I think to myself before quietly chuckling.

I then look into the fountain and could barely see the reflection staring back at me. My tan face, my deep purple eyes, my short raspberry-red hair.

My mother and I used to do this when I was little. Whenever I was sad or not feeling well or just having a bad day, we would come out here at night and feed the animals. I even still remember the first time we went out and did this. I was four and, in the backyard, I saw this baby rabbit running around. It couldn’t have been more than a week old. I got its attention and, unafraid, it ran up to me and I started playing around with it and chasing it and stuff. Next thing you know, a bird of prey swooped in and carried the little thing off as it started making terrified, distressed squeaking sounds that were getting farther and farther away. Shocked and, frankly, downright upset, I ran inside and cried to my mother and told her that a bird took the baby rabbit away and was probably killing and eating it. She got down on one knee and pulled me close into a hug trying to console me and calm me down (complete with a soft yet audible “There, there”), gently running her warm hand along my back to soothe me as her shirt and shoulder were getting soaked with my tears. When that wasn’t working, she went to the kitchen and returned with two loaves of bread. She then grabbed my hand and we walked down to the empty marketplace. She sat down and took her shoes off to dip her feet in the water and proceeded to place me on her lap as we grabbed our pieces of bread to feed the ducks. Still thinking to earlier that day, I then thought back to the conversation we had.

“Mommy, can I ask you a question?” I asked that day as I leaned back and rested my head against her chest.

“Ask away.” She said with her calm, soothing voice.

I remember the question I asked being a very silly one:

“Mommy, why do some animals kill each other while others just leave each other alone? Why don’t they just eat vegetables or fruits or stuff?”

She lowered her gaze at me and said, maintaining her comforting tone, “Oh, sweetie. I wish I had an answer to that. That’s just how nature is I guess.” 

“You won’t let any animals carry me off or eat me, right?” I asked.

She giggled in response and said, “No, sweetie. I won’t let anything eat you or hurt you. Mommy will you protect you with her life. That’s my promise to you.” She then pulled me into a hug from behind and proceeded to kiss me on the crown of my head.

“Besides…” she continued. “I think you’re fine.”

Out of curiosity, I turned my head to face her and asked, “Oh. Why’s that?”

She smiled at me and said, “Because you’re too cute to eat up!” She would then tickle me from behind while in the confines of her embrace, almost making me fall of her lap due to the squirming and uncontrollable laughter. We eventually settled down, finished with our two loaves of bread, and called it a day before we headed back home.

I miss those times. I miss her. Why did she have to go and make that promise?

Anyway, I’ve already finished my loaf of bread. I look to my mother’s loaf, still sitting beside me. I let out a deep, emotional sigh before grabbing her loaf and do the same with hers as I had done with mine. The same duck that quacked at me a moment ago decided to hop on the edge of the fountain with me. It was standing in mom’s spot. I tried to shoo it away from there, but ended up startling it. It then flapped its wings at me, which then startled me and caused me to fall backward and hit my head on the hard cobblestone ground before it decided to hop back into the fountain. I don’t think it took too kindly to that. I sat up and tried to alleviate the pain by rubbing my now hurting head. I think I should call it a night. I quickly pull apart the rest of the bread and toss it all into the fountain. A few seconds later, there was a lot of splashing in there because the ducks and fish were now in a free-for-all over who gets the most bread. I then put on my shoes and turned to walk back home. It’s going to be a little tricky now since the moon was partially covered by a few puffy cumulus clouds, slightly darkening my path.

As I was making my way out the marketplace, I could hear faint footsteps getting closer. As the steps got louder, I could see, coming into view, the tall silhouette of a man wearing strange clothes-- I couldn’t see too well but it looked like some sort of hooded long coat or garb or something. He had his hood up, which made it impossible for me to see his face, especially in this lack of light. Is he an outsider? As he got closer to the dimly lit marketplace, I noticed that he looked like he was slightly limping. Is he hurt? Should I ask him if he’s okay? No. Just ignore him. I don’t think it’s a good idea to get involved with strange people out at this hour (or strange people in general). 

I was so distracted by the fact that there is a strange hooded man heading to the marketplace, that it didn’t occur to me for a bit that I he is coming from where I came from earlier. Was he following me? No. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Besides, even if he was, it’s not like I have anywhere to hide anyway. The place is wide open, I’m too far from the stands, and jumping in the fountain would only make noise-- also… from where he’s coming from, I would have already been in his field of view, so he’s most likely already seen me. I just have to roll the dice and hope he is just some harmless passer-by. 

I began making my way home, moving in his direction. As we get closer to each other, I try not to pay him any mind and ignore him. I don’t even so much as make eye contact and just keep my eyes completely focused on what is directly in front of me. My heart is starting to speed up a bit with every step I take as I near the hooded figure. We eventually get close enough to pass each other and at that point, my heart is pounding as a few beads of sweat make their presence on my forehead. It seems like he is paying me no mind. I still can’t help but notice his limp. He is clearly hurt. I also noticed his breathing was a bit labored too, like he was tired or exhausted. Oh! I know! He actually is an outsider who got into a bar fight or something at one of the taverns in Noche, which would explain why he’s limping and breathing heavily and he is also drunk and took a wrong turn on his way home, which would also explain why he came from my direction. I guess that means he must live in the Luna quadrant. However, not wanting to be in the same vicinity as the stranger, I speed up my walk toward home as soon as I get about 10 feet (3 meters) past him. I’m still curious though. I want to take one more look at him.   
As I looked back, I noticed the hooded man was now suddenly turned around, facing me, as I kept walking and watched him disappear into the darkness.

As soon as I returned home, I check to make sure I wasn’t followed and climb my way back into my room. But upon entering, I noticed something a bit strange. The door to my room is open and Bruno isn’t in here. I don’t remember leaving it open. I could’ve sworn I closed it. I also see that the door to my dad’s room is opened too. He must have checked on me and saw that I wasn’t there! Oh no. I hope I’m not in too much trouble. He’s probably downstairs waiting to give me an earful. (sigh) Let’s just get this over with then.

Before I was about to head down, I could hear a strange yet familiar noise coming from the closet. As I got closer, I realized the sound was something scratching on the door and whimpering. How did Bruno get in the closet? Did dad put him in there? If so, why would dad put him in the closet? I open the closet and let Bruno out. I then look over at my nightstand and notice something: mom’s knife is missing! Where did it go? I’ll have to ask dad to help me find it after the verbal lashing he’s most likely going to give me. I then look back at Bruno and I can’t help but notice he still looks and sounds distressed despite me freeing him. What does he know that I don’t? I should head downstairs now and find dad.

I descend the stairs with Bruno tailing behind me and I notice the closer I get to the downstairs area, the more that things appear to be out of place or knocked over. Even some of the walls look a bit damaged. It’s a mess down here! What happened? It was also very quiet—I mean the house is almost always quiet, but this was an eerie kind of quiet. As I turn the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I turn my head towards the kitchen, which was illuminated by a bit of moonlight shining through the window. For some reason I feel compelled to walk in there—like I will find what I’m looking for if I enter that room. At this point, I am extremely unsettled, but I’ve already started walking toward the kitchen-- eyes fixated on the entrance-- as my mind is screaming at me not to go in that room as my body disobeys every command. As I got closer to the entrance to the kitchen, for the first time in a long time, I quietly utter my first word:

“D-dad?”

I turned the corner and entered the kitchen. Stopped dead in my tracks, I was completely frozen in place by what the moonlight in the kitchen was showing me… almost like a spotlight. I couldn’t even make a sound or even hear my own breaths anymore. It felt like all my senses and motor functions just stopped working. Everything around me just ceased to exist. All that was left was me… and the lifeless corpse of my father lying in a fresh pool of blood-- with my mother’s pocketknife dug into his heart. 

*CHAPTER END*

Sorry I'm a bit late with this one. I meant to post it yesterday, but I had some assignments I had to get done first. Anyway, in this chapter, we have the first fight scene I have ever written. I wanted to keep it a bit "ground based" for this one since this is my first and I wanted to "get my feet wet" or get a feel for it to start, so I didn't want to start off with anything too crazy. Anyway, here is my fun fact for this chapter:

Fun fact #3: There is a DDLC (Doki Doki Literature Club) reference somewhere in this chapter.


	4. Volume I: Chapter IV: Symphony of Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE & GRAPHIC VIOLENCE*

I stood there for who knows how long until I was finally brought to my knees by the sight of my father’s lifeless body as I cupped my hands over my mouth, trying to fight back the sea of emotions. I felt like a dam on the verge of collapsing or like someone had hit me in the heart with a sledgehammer. After a few interminable moments, I just placed my hands on the top of my head and pressed my forehead on the hard floor that was now wet with his still fresh blood.

“No.” That was all I could bring myself to say.

I can feel myself slowly starting to lose it.

Calm down. Just please calm down. I desperately pleaded to myself in my head.

I begin to tightly grip a handful of my hair while trying to maintain myself by taking deep breaths. It wasn’t working. With each breath I took, I could feel myself giving way more and more as my heart rate accelerated and my breathing quickly turned into hyperventilating. I can’t take it! I’m going to break!

“No no no no NO NO NO!!!” I yelled, my voice breaking more and more with each “no” that managed to escape my lips.

I let out a scream of anguish while still in my current position. First my mother and now my father! This isn’t real! This can’t be real. This has to be some kind of nightmare. Right? Yeah. That’s probably it. This must be a nightmare. I’m still dreaming. I have to be. I never woke up. None of this is real. I’m probably still sleeping right now and any second, I’m going to wake up and this day will have never happened. I close my eyes waiting for me to wake up and for the nightmare to   
end.

Any second now, I’ll open my eyes and when I open them, I’ll be staring up at the ceiling of my room, laying in my bed, and successfully escaping this nightmare. And… and I’ll head downstairs, greeted by dad and Bruno, and we’ll eat a nice breakfast. He’ll head to work, I’ll spend some time with Bruno, and I’ll feed the animals with Aaron and train with my dad after the day is over. I’ll open my eyes and it will just be another normal day.

I open my eyes and I am once again greeted by the body of my father, still lying in a pool of blood. Seeing my mother’s knife buried in his heart felt like there was one being buried into mine as well.

No! This isn’t real! I refuse to accept this as real! Wake up, Simin! Wake up! Please wake up!

I can feel my eyes start to well up with even more tears as I am now drowning in denial. I once again lower my head and face the floor. After taking a second to look at the dark, wooden surface I slam my head down, desperate to escape this nightmare. When that didn’t work, I did it again and again and again, until I could feel the warm, thick, red liquid flow from my forehead. Why am I not waking up?!

“This isn’t real! This isn’t real! This isn’t real!” I kept yelling as my voice started to break in between bashes.

At this point, the blood pouring down from my forehead was now starting to mix with my tears that were now rolling down my cheeks. Some of it even got in my mouth during one of the times I was shouting. After getting a taste of my own blood and the throbbing headache I just gave myself, I could no longer deny it. I could only bring myself to mutter, quietly, one more sentence. Three more words.

“This is real.”

I’m not dreaming. This certainly isn’t some figment of my imagination. This is real. This entire day was real. The breakfast, the feeding, the training, the fountain, all of it. And now, I can no longer deny that my worst fears have been realized. I am kneeling right beside the body of my recently deceased father-- the same man who I just had dinner with and trained with no more than a few hours ago. The fact had finally set in. My father is dead! He’s actually dead! Murdered! And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it! At this point, all I could do was wail in agony over the situation as the question, “Who could have done this and why?” began to occupy my mind.

After a few moments passed, my thoughts then became interrupted by the faint, low noise of what sounded like a distant bell being rung. Wait a minute… That’s not just any bell...that’s the warning bell! I then heard a distant screech, followed by a very loud sound-- the sound of one of the gates being broken down. It didn’t take long for the silence in the streets to be replaced with the screams of people that were rushing this way like floodwaters. That must mean it was the Luna gate that was broken down judging from the direction of the initial screams of terror. It didn’t take long for those screams to start to be overcome with howls and roars as they became so loud, I could barely hear Bruno who was now barking behind me.

Why is this happening? I thought to myself as I was living my nightmare all over again. It’s almost as if the world itself picked this one moment for everything left in my life to start crashing down. Why tonight? Why now?

I could hear the grimm slowly, but surely, getting louder as they were starting to barrel through in hordes as they were quickly taking over Luna and, soon, the rest of Dorado. This is just like that night, three years ago. What could have brought them here-- and in such numbers too? There’s so many! Why are there so many? Between the death of my father and the oncoming grimm attack, I just mentally broke. I couldn’t even bring myself to even think or process anything anymore. I just feel... tired. Finished. All I felt like doing now was to just sit there. And sat there I did… on my knees, staring at my father’s corpse, with blood and tears now dripping from my chin that were creating a small puddle on the wooden floor as the fair moonlight filled my vacant eyes. My world as I know it is sinking. I guess I might as well go down with it.

“Agh!” I suddenly yelped in shock and surprise as I suddenly felt immense pressure on my forearm, followed by a sharp, stinging pain.

I look over and I see Bruno with his jaws clamped down onto my arm and tugging and jerking, like he was trying to pull me somewhere. It was almost as if he was trying to snap me out of my current state and was doing anything he can to try and get me out. Though it hurt, it was enough to put whatever sense I had just lost back into me. I then thought back to the words my father spoke to me earlier: “Simin, this world will push you. It will try to knock you around. And it may even break you. That is an inevitability. And in times like that, weakness stops becoming an option and strength starts becoming a requirement.” I can’t die here. Not like this. And especially not to the grimm, of all things. I won’t die to those monsters! They took my mother from me and I refuse to let them have me too. I have to keep living. I have to keep fighting. But more importantly, I have to be strong!

I go over to the corpse and wince as I pull the pocketknife out of my father’s cold chest. I open my eyes and take a look at the blade for a few seconds. The once shiny and reflective blade is now cloaked in his blood. I put the blade in my pocket and go grab my father’s weapons that were laying at his sides, as well as the ammo cartridges for the parts of his sais that doubled as firearms (that could fire six bullets each). I decide not to load them yet. With nowhere to put them, I hook the sais into my pants with the middle spike on the inside and cover the back ends by pulling my shirt over them and put the knife and cartridges in my pockets. Before I head out the kitchen and toward the door, I take one last look at my father and kneel at his side, placing and gripping my warm hand on his cold, dead one.

“Goodnight, dad… I love you.”

I get back up and head to the door with Bruno at my side. Now that I’m ready, it’s time for me to get out of Dorado before it’s destroyed.

* * * 

As I head out, the first thing I see is terrified people-- men, women, and children-- fleeing in droves in the direction of the Sol gate to escape. Some were covered in dust and debris. Others were bleeding from the arm, a leg, the head, and other places. Some were adults who managed the taverns in Noche. Others were some of the few farmers that worked in Día (none of which were Aaron). Some were children being carried by their mothers. Others were the elderly being carried by their (much older) children. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, elderly and young, husbands and wives, farmers and tavern owners, citizens and outsiders, all these people came rushing in the same direction. It was like watching death parade through the streets. 

I then heard a loud (much closer) screech and I was soon overtaken by a massive shadow. I look up to see what was looming above us. A massive, black, bird-like grimm that resembled a raven with a bone, mask-like structure on its face with four red eyes. I believe they call it a nevermore. The nevermore then swooped low and picked up one of the villagers, a short, pale, red-haired woman (the same woman I saw earlier today in the market). As it was flying away with the terrified, screaming woman, who was being crushed in its massive, black talons, it took out one of the towers--the Noche tower-- with one of its enormous 75-foot (22.8 meter) wings. As the Noche tower fell, it destroyed another gate—the Noche gate, allowing the grimm another entry way into Dorado. It then made one more flight back around to us and started to shoot a flurry of its own feathers at us like a volley of arrows. One of the arrows ended up impaling the man who left the peach pie for me and my dad this morning. I immediately looked away from the grizzly sight, but I could hear his pained groans clear as day. The nevermore then let out another screech as it perched itself on the wall near the now destroyed Noche tower and proceeded to swallow the woman whole, her screams instantly being cut off as soon as she entered its beak. 

After seeing the massive crowd of people heading toward the gate, I realized it was best for me to head the opposite direction toward the marketplace before the grimm completely take it over and leave me trapped. I have to make my way toward Día. With all those people desperately struggling to get out of the only gate left in Dorado, there is definitely going to be major bottlenecking and if I get caught up in that, I’m as good as dead. My best bet is to go back through the marketplace and get to Día. I remember they were supposed to tear down that large tree with the branches that reach the wall. If I can get there, that is my ticket out of here.

As I make my way through the street to La Estrella Marketplace (with Bruno not very far behind), another nevermore swoops in low and tries to carry me off. I manage to get out of the way, but as it was coming through, it demolished some of the houses in the process and knocked a ton of debris in the path and blocking the way back and cutting me off from Bruno. I get up and dust myself off and look back to see if Bruno was okay. Unfortunately, once the dust cleared I didn’t see Bruno next to me. Please don’t be dead?

“Bruno!” I scream at the top of my lungs, believing my dog had just been crushed under the rubble. I waited for a few seconds and, to my relief, I was greeted with barks on the other side. Thank the gods! But how is he going to get through? The path is blocked and there is no way across. I don’t want to leave him. I could barely see through the wreckage and Bruno was moving across the blocked path, back and forth, trying to find a way to squeeze through. Fearing for his safety, I had to tell Bruno something I wish I didn’t have to say:

“Bruno! Get out of here! Go! Just run away!” I screamed, hoping he would listen to me and get to safety.

Bruno wasn’t listening. He kept trying to find a way through. He didn’t want to leave me. He even clamped his jaws on a large wooden beam that was too big for him to move and tried (and was failing) to get it out of the way. I try again.

“I SAID GO, BRUNO! Please just go! NOW!” 

Bruno just sits there and stares at me, not wanting to leave his best friend-- the same person who took him in and gave him a home-- gave him a family.

“NOW!” I say one last time, throwing a stone that ended up hitting him in the body, to which he responded with a surprised yelp. I felt horrible for that, but I pointed in the opposite direction and hoped that he would stop being so stubborn and get out while he has the chance.

Bruno reluctantly and hesitantly follows my order. He turns around and runs away, but not before giving me one last look and disappearing behind the dust and smoke. 

After watching Bruno run away, I head into the marketplace solo. What once was a peaceful, sanctuary at night has now been turned into a chaotic slaughterhouse. Just like this morning, the marketplace was once again filled with people. Only this time, I see people crying over the corpses of their family members who were killed. I see people with mangled up limbs, bleeding out, or both who are lying on the ground either screaming in agony, begging to be put out of their misery, or both. The fountain and the star statue on it that was once so bright and beautiful at night are now in ruins. The once clear water is now red with the blood of a recently deceased person who probably was tossed into it, got injured, and drowned in there while he was bleeding out, too weak to call for help or get out by his own power.

I began to make my way out to the entrance of Día as there were a few stragglers from Luna who were trying to escape. Once they saw the path was blocked upon entering the marketplace, they all immediately stopped dead in their tracks. Knowing there was no escape for them since the Noche gate was also broken and Día didn’t have a gate, they all immediately fell into despair. Some fell to the ground and proceeded to wail and cry, knowing those were their final moments.   
Others, knowing they couldn’t fight the grimm and didn’t want to get killed by them either, proceeded to pull out their knives and kill themselves on the spot.

A few of the stragglers were getting out of Noche too and were also making their way to the marketplace. But no more than a few seconds later, grimm began storming into the area right behind them, one of them being an alpha beowolf (which is basically a normal beowolf but bigger (about 10 ft/ 3 meters), faster, more durable, and they have that stony armor on their knees and shoulder as well as what appears to be a rib cage encasing its mid-torso). The alpha beowolf caught up to and pounced on a tall, tan-skinned man wearing a green tunic with gold accents (the same man from this morning who was trading with the woman who got eaten by the nevermore) and it proceeded to maul and maim him. It didn’t kill him though. After it was done with that, the alpha proceeds to swipe his torso with one of its dagger-like claws, slicing him open and disemboweling him in the process. The now disfigured man lied there screaming, filling the marketplace with his agonizing and terrified screams as he began to bleed out and die while the alpha let out a howl as if it were celebrating its kill. Seeing that triggered flashbacks of my mother’s death and was enough to freeze me in my tracks.

The flashbacks began to make my head throb to the point that it felt like someone was driving an ice pick into my brain. I just got down on my knees, wide-eyed, my breathing now heavier again and uncontrolled, and held myself in a way that one would if they were trying to keep themselves warm on a cold night. I then closed my eyes tight and pressed my head into the ground due to the pain that now felt like my brain was trying to break out of my skull as the images flashed through my mind like a rapid slideshow. The pounding in my head was so bad, I couldn’t even hear the beowolf that was now rushing up to sink its teeth and claws into me. Just then, no more than a second later, I feel something wrap around my torso and grab me, essentially tackling me out of the way and somewhat snapping me out of it in the process. I look up to see that it was Aaron that saved my life just now!

“KID… WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!?” Aaron shouted.

Though not a very warm greeting, I’m still very relieved to see him. I would have died where I stood if he didn’t tackle me out of the way just now. I wrap my arms around my savior tightly as a way of saying “thank you.” My heartbeat and breathing are still a bit rapid, but it feels a tad bit steadier now.

“Yeah, yeah! You’re welcome! Now let go! That thing isn’t finished yet!” He orders while brushing me to the side as I release my grip from him.

The alpha turns its attention to Aaron and begins charging toward him. Just from Aaron’s positioning, I could tell what he was planning. As soon as the beast got close enough, Aaron leapt out of the way, causing it to crash into one of the wooden pillars holding up the porch to a house. The alpha ends up pouncing into the beam and causes it to break and brings the porch down on its head, but not killing it. But it did buy us enough time since it was pinned down for the moment.

“Come on, kid! We’re getting out of here!” He orders. “Shit! I haven’t seen things get this messy since I was in Harvey’s mine!” He continues, this time speaking to himself.

Harvey’s mine? What’s that? Who’s Harvey? Nevermind, that’s not important right now. Wait, I hope Aaron isn’t going to take us in the direction of the Sol gate!

“B-but the bottleneck--”

“I know!” He cuts me off, running toward Día while grabbing my wrist while I try not trip due to him practically dragging me. “Those people are literally a buffet for the grimm right now. None of them are getting out alive. That’s why we’re going to be using that tree by Día as our ticket out of here. Also, nice to hear you talking again. It’s been a while.”

As we ran, I couldn’t help but notice that Aaron is running a little funny—like he has a bit of a limp. I then look at his leg and notice a large gash in his thigh. That alpha must have grazed him with its claws when he saved me.

Aaron and I reach Día, which was now illuminated by the fires in the surrounding quadrants that were now ignited in quickly growing flames. One of the grimm must have destroyed a few of the lamps in the marketplace and caused a fire in the process. The livestock in Día were now running rampant and were desperately trying to find a way out of their situation filling the area with a chorus of distressed animal noises. The grimm at this point have already infested the marketplace and are probably already slaughtering the people at the bottleneck near the Sol gate and picking off any people who managed to get out. We run past Aaron’s home and as I glimpsed over, I could see that it was completely destroyed, most likely by a nevermore swooping down and attempting to snatch him up as well like it tried with me. I’d ask him what really happened, but we don’t have time for that now. I can only just assume. We eventually reach Día’s tower and Aaron kicks open the door. Before we climb the stairs I stop him for a quick second and ask him something:

“Wait, Aaron. Will we be able to avoid the grimm? What if they catch up to us?”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this kid, but grimm are attracted to negative energy…” He answered. “… and with all those people still over there caught up in that bottleneck, there is a lot of negative energy concentrated in that one spot. That means we’ll be able to get away under the grimm’s noses while they’re distracted. Now come on!”

We then rush up the spiral steps of the Día tower. As soon as we get to the top and exit the tower and step onto the wall, another nevermore flies close to us and crashes through the tower. Aaron again tackles me to the ground and moves under the cover of the ramparts and places his body on top of mine to shield me from any falling debris. We almost get crushed by the rubble, but we somehow managed to end up unscathed by what just happened. We take a look to see whether the nevermore will turn back for us or not. Instead it heads straight for the Sol gate, where the bottleneck is. Aaron was right. We really can get away unnoticed. But it hurts knowing those people are all going to die. They don’t even stand a chance. But we need to keep moving.

Aaron and I spot the branches of the large tree stretching over the wall and we begin to head toward it. With only a few yards now left between us and the tree, Aaron finally lets go of my wrist and suddenly stops. He then turns around and takes a couple seconds to look at Dorado. I follow suit.

The two of us stand side by side as we look at Dorado, now set ablaze, accompanied by a choir of screeching, roaring, and howling of grimm, as well as the terrified and agonizing screams of all those people who are dying as we look on. We could even hear the houses collapsing and crashing to the ground with heavy thuds almost like a bunch of drums being beaten to a rhythm. I couldn’t even see the moon anymore as it was completely blocked by a thick screen of smoke and flames. I never wanted to see my home in this way but at the same time, knowing this will probably be the last time I’ll ever get to see it, I couldn’t bring myself to look away. My world and everything I know and love in it, is literally burning to the ground before my very eyes. The only things left are me and Aaron-- two lone silhouettes standing atop a wall facing a village engulfed in a mountain of flames as the symphony of chaos crescendos into its final act.

After a brief period of silence between us, Aaron speaks up in a very low, somber tone:

“I never planned to stay long, to be honest-- only until my work was done. And I even managed to finish my job today and then next thing you know… shit hits the fan. But still, I’m going to miss this place… and the people. They don’t deserve this shit… no one does.”

“Goodbye, Dorado.” I quietly say to myself with a tear in my eye, as my home-- my life as I knew it-- was being sacked by the grimm who have officially taken everything I have left away from me. I then felt Aaron’s hand on my shoulder.  
“Come on, kid.” He says in a quiet voice. “We can’t stay here much longer. Dorado is lost. Up and at ‘em.”

He then puts both hands under my arms and lifts me to put me on one of the branches of the tree. Before he places on a branch and follows suit so we can escape, we hear a loud rumbling followed by what felt like shaking, causing us to lose our balance.

“SHIT!” He yells visibly shocked.

With little time left, Aaron just tosses me onto the tree. He then tries to jump to a branch as well, but the gash in his thigh wouldn’t allow him to push any further. Aaron doesn’t make the jump and misses the tree by just an arm’s length away as the inner side of the wall collapses, sending him back into the burning village and trapping him with no hope of escape.

“Aaron!” I yell not wanting to be left alone and worried for his safety.

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m fine… for now that is.” He says, followed by a few coughs due to the dust.

“For now?” I ask, hoping he would confirm that he isn’t saying what I think he’s saying.

“Kid...I’m going to be straight with you here. It was probably going to end like this anyway. You may not believe it, but this was a long time coming for me. You shouldn’t worry about people like me anyway. In fact, I think it’s best if you just forgot about me altogether. You may not know why I’m saying this or know exactly what I mean, but I pray for your sake that you never do.” He says in a somber tone as if he is accepting his fate.

“Aaron just try and climb up! Please! Maybe you can climb the tower again or get some boxes or something and build a staircase or--”

“KID!” He yells cutting me off again, holding his palm toward me to signify to stop talking. “Just stop! After tonight, Dorado is going to be wiped off the face of Remnant by the grimm and you will most likely be the sole survivor. If you want to live, then I suggest you get the fuck out of here...NOW! – Wait!... Do you hear what I hear?” He says holding his hand to his ear to listen.

It’s silent… dead silent.

“You hear nothing, don’t you? Those grimm over there,” He points toward where the bottleneck was. “They’ve already killed everyone by now or are almost done and will be heading this as we speak very, very soon. You don’t have a lot of time! You need to get out of here and survive! I will do whatever it is I can to distract them for as long as I can, but I need you running by the time I do okay? Can you do that for me?”

I nod my head yes.

“Good. Also, kid, do me one last favor: when you get down that tree and start running, no matter what, under any circumstances, DON’T...LOOK...BACK! Are we clear?”

“Y-yes!” I say, giving him one final nod.

“Thanks.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small red object and tosses it up to me. I catch it in my hands and see that it’s an apple. “Eat it when you get the chance. You’ll need the energy. See you around, kid.”

With that, unable to even speak, I wave Aaron one last goodbye and begin my descent down the tree. I started to hear the sounds of gimm coming in this direction and just dropped down. With tears in my eyes, I booked it for the woods, keeping my promise to not look back. I ran as far as I could and as fast as I could. I could still hear the sounds of my home being destroyed-- the screams now completely silent-- such as buildings being destroyed, and the slight, distant crackle of the houses being burned to the ground. The more I ran, the quieter and more distant the noises got. I kept running and running and running until I simply just couldn’t anymore and eventually I come across a small and narrow crevice in the ground that I could hide myself in where the grimm won’t be able to enter. I quickly scurried my way in and made sure it was completely safe. After catching my breath, I pulled the apple out of my pocket and stared at it, thinking of Aaron, my father, my mother, Bruno, and Dorado. At that moment, all my emotions began pouring out of me as I began eating the apple as it disappeared more and more every time I bit a chunk out of it. After finishing the apple, I then just stared at what was now reduced to just the core and stem. After gaining some composure I managed to blurt out one more word:

“Goodbye!” I then proceed to bury my still (now slightly) bloody forehead in my arms as I proceeded to cry myself to sleep.

Everything and everyone I once knew and loved is now gone.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to sunlight creeping into the crevice and into my eyelids. As I woke up, the heat of the sun’s rays immediately took me back to the inferno of the previous night and made me jolt myself awake. Forgetting I was sleeping in a crevice I accidentally hit my head on the hard, vertical surface, giving myself another headache. Well at least I’m awake now. I squeeze myself out of the ravine, accidentally tearing my clothes a bit in the process, and dust myself off and make sure I have my father’s sais and my mother’s knife on me. Not only are these my most precious possessions since they are all that I have left of them, they will also serve as my primary tools to survive. 

After waking up a bit more I noticed that despite what happened last night, it’s a surprisingly nice day. Birds singing Flowers blooming. Clear sky. It’s almost like last night never happened. But it did happen, unfortunately. I really wish last night were just another nightmare, but unfortunately, that will never be the case, no matter how many times I wish that.

I’m honestly jealous of those birds right now. Not a single care in the world. They’re not even aware of what happened last night. And even if they were, I doubt they would care. They’ll just keep on living and keep moving forward as if nothing ever happened. But then again, that’s the world of Remnant for you. This merciless world doesn’t care… and I just learned that the hard way. It will keep moving forward regardless of anything. And if I don’t want to get left behind, then I need to do the same and keep on living… no matter what. Weakness is no longer an option, meanwhile strength has officially become a requirement.

*CHAPTER END*

Hey, everyone! I know I said I wasn't going to upload on Holy Week (or at last I think I said that), but I didn't upload last week, so I thought it would be fair if I made up for that by uploading this week. Which reminds me, sorry for missing last week. I had a math exam coming up and I needed to get studying in early (I'm not the best at math :p ).

Which also reminds me, I most likely will not be posting chapter 5 next week or the following week since school is going to have me pretty busy for the next couple of weeks with a few essays, a project, and a presentation. So I wouldn't expect chapter 5 until about maybe 3 weeks from now at the earliest.

Anyway, this is essentially the end of act one of Volume I of this SLVR fan fic and I wanted to end the first act with a bang while also setting the stage for the rest of Volume I. By the way, Volume I is going to have 20 chapters (not including the set up chapter for chapter 13, the 6 planned anthology chapters between chapters 15 and 16, and the epilogue chapter). We will be meeting new grimm, new characters, old characters, and a couple new semblances. 

I'm especially excited about the new types of grimm I will be introducing. We will be meeting two of them in this volume (one of which is based off one of the seven ancient wonders of the world: the Colossus of Rhodes, and the other being based off an urban legend called the kuchisake-onna).

With all that said I will conclude with fun fact #4:

Fun Fact #4: The line I wrote earlier in this chapter, "as the fair moonlight filled my vacant eyes," is meant to be a reference to a song called Befall, which is from the game, Honkai Impact 3rd. The original line in the song goes, "Fair moonlight, will you fill my void eyes?" Also, this chapter went through two name changes. The other potential names for this chapter were "Escalation" and "Don't Look Back."


	5. Volume I: Chapter V: The Sole Survivor

“W h-where am I?” I ask myself as I open my eyes to what looks like some sort of dark, decrepit plaza. I was just in the woods last night and next thing you know, I’m here. I don’t even know where “here” is. I wish I could at least see.

Just a moment later, a faint, bright glow began to emerge in front of me and I soon realized that it was a growing fire. The light the fire gave off allowed me to get a better look at my surroundings. It looks like I’m inside… a destroyed village? Wait a minute! This area looks familiar… like some kind of marketplace.

“Am I back in Dorado!?” I thought to myself. “It can’t be! There’s no way! Dorado was destroyed three weeks ago. There’s no way I could be back here.”

My feet then started to feel cold and wet like they were being splashed by something as I soon realized I was standing in what feels like a small pool of water. I turn around and see that I am standing in the fountain of La Estrella Marketplace, but the star statue is still destroyed.

“I AM in Dorado! But how?” I continue in my head as I am overcome with confusion. I decide to call out into the darkness around me, hoping I would get some answers as to what’s going on.

“Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?!” I call out, only to be greeted by the sound of crackling wood as the fire burns the place down. It’s dead silent.

No more than a few seconds later, I hear what sounds like something collapsing to the ground, which was then followed by the bone-chilling screams of terrified people along with the sounds of grimm slaughtering them echoing throughout the barren remains of my home. I didn’t know whether to be overwhelmed by confusion or to be completely unsettled. I could hear the sounds, but there was nothing accompanying them. As I looked around for what could be the source of those horrific noises, I couldn’t see anything as I was only greeted by the disembodied sounds of chaos unfolding around me as the fire kept growing and growing to the point the brightness made it difficult for me to keep my eyes open. This entire situation feels so surreal.

The screams eventually ceased, and everything went silent again. I was so disoriented by everything around me, I could only just stand there, dumbfounded. Then, suddenly, the blaze instantly went out, sending me back into darkness as if someone had just flipped a switch. But I could tell I was still in Dorado because I could feel the water inside the fountain that I was still standing in.

“What the…” I thought to myself in confusion.

Not long after, one by one, a pair of red eyes began to shine through the dark void accompanied by a low growl. That pair of eyes was then followed by another pair, and another, and another, and another, and another, until the entire wall of darkness surrounding me turned into a wall of glowing red eyes piercing through me. With every pair of eyes that began to shine through the pitch-black environment, a wave of dread and terror surged through me as the noises of grimm got louder and louder and louder while the eyes began to close in on me. Soon, the noises got so loud that it felt like my eardrums were going to explode. I eventually became overwhelmed and just clutched my head and fell to my knees.

“LEAVE ME ALONE! GET AWAY FROM ME! STAY AWAY!” I kept screaming at the top of my lungs, foolishly thinking that I could reason with these monsters.

The wall of red eyes ignored my pleas and crept closer and closer. Now they were so close that the few feet of room left around me were dimly lit in a deep shade of red that reflected off the water in the fountain. As I knelt in the fountain, the water started to feel thick and warm and started to give off a rather pungent, metallic scent. Even the solid stone ground started to feel softer beneath my feet.

“What am I standing on?” I thought to myself with a confused expression while trying not to let my heart jump out of my chest.

I feel with my hands through the water to try and see what I was on top of. I eventually felt something that was solid and round and as I pull it up to see what it was, I was staring face to face with my deceased father. In response, I jolt up to my feet in shock. I look back down in the dim red light of the fountain in what I now realize has become a pool of blood. The blood around me begins to lower in level and clear around me and I see that I am standing on my mother’s mutilated body and my father’s corpse. The dread (as well as my heart rate) that was forming in me just sky-rocketed at that point and I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“AUGGGHHHHH!!!” I just let out a blood-curdling scream as I fell back to my knees, now with my hands covering my ears praying for it to end.

* * *

“AH!” I yelp as I am jolted awake by my nightmare, out of breath and in a cold sweat.

I rubbed my temples as my head was now pounding. I also desperately tried to catch my breath and regain my composure, only this time, there is no dad to come to my aid and comfort me and no Bruno to rush up the stairs to assault my face with a series of licks. It still feels like yesterday when it happened even though three weeks have passed since the destruction of my home. I even get night terrors from time to time, sometimes once a night (or even multiple times in one night on rarer occasions), costing me sleep and leading me to either wake up late in the day or being exhausted in the mornings if I can’t go back to sleep. The things I dream about are usually of me in Dorado when it was being sacked by grimm, but in place of that woman who got swallowed by that nevermore or that man who was mutilated by that beowolf, lying there and screaming in agony in a pool of my own blood. However, this one was unlike any of the others. This was definitely the worst one so far. 

With everyone gone, I am the only one I can depend on now. Crazy isn’t it? Me, a now nine-year-old kid, out here in the wilderness, forced to fend for himself or die trying. That’s just how the world is I guess. Cruel and merciless. And as for the grimm, they took everything from me. I now have nothing left except for what is on my person and my life. And because of that, I’ve developed both a hatred of them and an extreme fear of them as well.

If I am to survive and get to my destination, I have to grow up and fast (which I believe I have done much of for the past three weeks). Now is as good of a time as any to take dad’s final lesson to heart because strength is what’s going to keep me alive as of now. If I want to live the life that I want (which at this moment, is just being alive), I am going to have to be strong enough to defend it.

Speaking of staying alive, to survive, I’ve mainly been walking up this stream that I came across not long after I climbed out of that crevice. I mainly use it to catch fish, get fresh water to drink, and to bathe. However, on days when fish seem to be scarce, I have no choice but to find and eat whatever small animals come by. When it comes to hunting, I mainly use my father’s modified sais. I use the spiked ends if they’re close and if they are too far away, I just flip them over and use the firearm ends (while also being careful not to let the recoil of the weapon drive the spike into my shoulder). In all honesty, I really hate killing animals, even if it means for survival. But at the same time, I also don’t want to die, so I have to put those feelings aside for now until I get where I need to go. However, I still feel bad for having to do it and I even tend to apologize to the animal before ending its life.

Hopefully, it won’t be this way for the rest of my life. Hopefully, I can get my old life back in some form once I reach my destination, Oniyuri. It is a village not too far from Dorado (about a month on foot from where Dorado used to be). I always heard about how it wanted to be separate from the four kingdoms and maybe, one day, even become its own kingdom. It sounded promising to me and I thought this would be the next best place for me to be that was close enough for me to reach. My hope is that once I get there, I can maybe try and get back the life I lost in some way, shape, or form. Though I’m not sure exactly how I will be able to get my normal life back once I get there, I’ll figure something out. I need to at least try. I don’t want my current situation to become the rest of my life. So I need to just bear with it and be strong for now until I reach Oniyuri. Which reminds me, last I heard regarding Oniyuri was that it was still under development and was almost complete. I wonder how close it will be to finished once I get there.

After managing to scrounge up my composure from my nightmare, I get up and take a quick bath in the stream to try and help get my mind off things for a bit. The stream for some reason always helps keep me calm and level-headed. I can’t explain why, but it’s probably because I find the sound of moving water to be very soothing. Besides, I woke up late today anyway due to that nightmare I just had, so it’s better late than never. I strip and step into the stream that was slightly warmed by the sun’s rays. It felt very nice and relaxing. The muddy floor of the stream also felt very strange beneath my feet when it was squishing in between my toes. It’s a funny feeling I never quite got used to whenever I would bathe in here.  
I take scoops of water in my hand and proceed to pour it on my body so I can wash the dirt off my skin and out of my hair. In time, I am eventually cleaned off and step out of the stream to let myself dry for a bit before I put my clothes back on and get a bit of food in me as a small breakfast (or late lunch considering the time of day). 

I decide to take out my mother’s knife and inspect it. It’s now clean of my father’s blood since I washed it when I first came upon this place. It’s been very useful to me—the knife I mean. I mainly use it for gutting and descaling fish or cutting off chunks of whatever animal I’m about to eat. As for the stream itself, aside from being a source of water, food, and hygiene, it even sort of serves as a compass or “road” for me. Oniyuri is said to be north of Dorado so all I have to do is just follow the stream until I get there.

I then pick up the sais and open the cartridges on the gun ends to examine them and count the amount of bullets I have left. 

“One, two, three, four.” I count to myself.

Damn! I could’ve sworn I had more shots than that. I’m going to have to be stingy with my ammo now. From now on, if the prey is too far, I’ll just have to place my faith in my aim and throw.

I then put my weapons away and continue my journey up the bank of the stream. After turning my head to look at the water, I notice that it is very clear-- almost as if there is no water at all. But still no fish yet, unfortunately. Good thing I’m not hungry right now I guess. I still find it weird though that there is a stream flowing north. I think it’s probably because the area I am in seems to be a “transitional” area if that makes sense. In other words, from what I can tell when looking at the other side of the stream, it is somewhat rocky, and the ground seems to be slightly inclining. It looks like I am near the border line of the forest and what looks like the signs of the start of a rocky, mountainous area. On one side, you just have rocks and soil and a few trees that seem to be forming a steady incline. But on my side, trees and foliage everywhere. 

As I walk the stream, I begin to hear a loud, white noise that sounded like rushing water. I get closer to see what’s up ahead and I notice in the distance a massive rock formation with an overpass over the stream that resembles a bridge a giant would use.

“What the?” I quietly say to myself.

Normally, I would just walk around it, but I’m not exaggerating when I say this thing is gigantic—I can’t even see the end of it from where I am. Plus, I want to make up for lost time. It would be nightfall by the time I got around (although that mainly has to do with the fact that I woke up so late). I walk a bit more to take in the full scale of this thing and I notice something a bit off about the stream as I approached. It looks like it cuts off at a certain point. I get a bit closer to look and see that it actually leads to a pretty big waterfall that leads to a deep ravine where the flowing water continues. I take a closer look and stare down the ravine and it seems to be about a 40-50 foot (12.1- 15.2 meter) drop. I better be extra careful because a fall like that would most likely kill or mangle me. I squint my eyes as I look over to the other side of the drop and I see that the land eventually evens out over there. I also see that there is enough room on the edge of the drop for me to shimmy my way over since it is the quickest way for me to get over. Is it unsafe? Yes, but as I said, I need to make up for lost time.

I get closer and make sure the ledge and my feet are dry, so I don't slip off. I slowly but surely make my way completely onto the ledge and keep my back against the wall of the rock formation.  
“Don’t look down. Don’t look down.” I repeated to myself over and over again in my head. 

I keep my eyes glued to the other side where the land evens out, which is about 100 yards (91.4 meters) in front of me. I very gingerly make my way over as I shift my feet, one after the other, while trying to resist the urge to look down and fighting back the thoughts buzzing in my head of what would happen if I were to fall. After a few minutes of dancing with fate by going this route, at this point, I see that I am about halfway through the area and am now under the giant shadow of the overpass. 

It’s a bit harder for me to see due to how dim it is now, but I just keep doing what I’m doing (but more slowly) and not let it affect my concentration. As I gain a bit of my rhythm through the dark area, I feel something, a sharp rock jutting out, snag onto my left pocket. I get my pants slightly caught up in it and, in the heat of the moment, I panicked and instead of calmly unhooking the rock from my pocket, I slightly yanked my hip to the side, which was followed by a tearing sound. 

About a couple seconds later, I then hear the sound of something small and metallic clanging below me as if it were bouncing off of something.

“Please don’t tell me that was I think it was?” I think to myself as I slowly reach for my pocket and feel around while the feeling of distress was quickly coming up on me.

“I don’t feel it! That can only mean…”

I slowly look down and am hit with a sinking feeling as I see my mother’s knife fall down into the ravine, hitting and bouncing off the rocks as it lands near the waterfall.

* * *

“NO!” I shouted as the knife hit the ground with a quiet clang. I almost ended up freaking out and narrowly avoided slipping and falling. After recovering and preventing my fall, my panic would eventually turn into frustration. 

“Dammit! You’ve got to be kidding me!” I quietly shout myself, leaving a faint echo. “I’m getting it back! I’m not leaving it behind!” 

After getting that mini outburst out of my system, I then take the time to try and gather my bearings so I can begin my descent.

“Calm down, Simin. Calm down.” I say as I prepare myself. “Remember, you’re still on a ledge 50 feet from your potential death if you’re not careful.” I remind myself of the position I am in before I decide on how I will go about this. Now that I’ve calmed down a bit, I take a moment to examine and reassess the situation.

Hmm. From the looks of it, the sun will be setting soon. I don’t have time to get to the other side and walk back into the ravine. So if I’m going for quickness and efficiency, my best bet is to descend from where I am. But how am I going to do that?

I look down the face of the ravine and notice a few spaced out branches jutting out from the rocky wall below me, one of which is just a few feet directly below where I’m standing. I think I have an idea. I take out my sais and step off the ledge. As I start falling, I swiftly turn my body around and hook the sais onto the branch and use this process to gradually descend to the bottom.  
As I reach the rocky floor, it suddenly gets very cold and slightly darker due to the combination of the shadow of the overpass and the daylight starting to gradually go away. The white noise of the waterfall sounds even louder too. This is probably because of the openness of the ravine making sounds amplified and a bit echoey down here. I also see the stream formed by the waterfall is continuing to flow through down here as well… but something seems a bit off. Judging by the size of the waterfall, there should be more water flowing here, but it seems to be much less than what there should be. Strange, but not that big of a deal to me. I turn and begin walking toward the waterfall to get the knife back and I am briefly stopped dead in my tracks out of confusion and curiosity of what is before me. 

“Is that what I think it is?” I say to myself, still trying to grasp what it is I’m looking at.

I take a few steps closer and I now have a clearer visual. 

“I guess that’s why the water isn’t flowing as much down here.” I think to myself.

Inside the waterfall, blocking and getting pelted by most of the falling water, there stood a humanoid, stone, statue. It didn’t even have a face on it (except for two black holes where the eyes should be and one slit on each side of its face running from the bottom of its eyes to its chin). It also had big, wide cracks so large and deep you could see the shadows from the cracks within them from here. It’s kinda creepy. Next to the statue, there is also a few tall, dead trees with no leaves and broken branches sitting near the bank of the stream, adding a bit to the ominous atmosphere.

After looking at the statue for some time, I get closer and I notice it is standing with its legs open, one foot standing on one side of the stream and the other foot standing on my side. Weird. I wonder who made this and why it was put there? What is it for? Worship? Warning? Sentry? A marker perhaps? I don’t know but it makes me feel uneasy. I just want to get my mother’s knife and go now.

I manage to pry my gaze away from the statue and go over to retrieve my mother’s knife, which was lying just a few yards next to it. The spray from the waterfall bouncing off it lightly beats my face, which has a very cooling sensation to it. It feels almost refreshing. I’d stay to soak it in more, but I need to get going. As soon as I pick up the knife, I take one more look at the statue and realize how big it is up close. It looks to be about 15 feet (4.5 meters) tall. It’s honestly impressive. It’s even more impressive that it’s still able to hold together and stand with those cracks. Speaking of which, how big and deep are those cracks anyway?

I then take a couple steps closer to the stone figure to inspect the damage on it. But as I got closer, I noticed there is something very off about the still figure. When I took a look at the statue’s deep, dark cracks, I realized… those black areas aren’t cracks!

* * *

No more than a second later, the “statue” seemingly sprang to life and brought its other foot onto this side of the stream and attempted to stomp me into the ground (which I jumped backward to avoid) followed by a pound with its left fist. My heart is now racing due to the initial sudden shock of what’s happening. Luckily though, it doesn’t seem to be very fast, which allowed me to dodge both blows easily. I was hoping I wouldn’t encounter any grimm on this journey, but clearly that is not the case now. Despite being initially surprised by what just happened as well as my extreme fear toward grimm, I’m having a somewhat easier time remaining calm when being faced by this 15-foot colossal behemoth. Maybe it’s because of its very humanoid appearance that I subconsciously disassociate it from other grimm I’ve seen and that helps me keep a leveled head in the process. Anyway, that still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a grimm, which means the danger is still there. I should get some distance between me and it so I can assess the situation.

I then quickly move backwards to give myself some breathing room.

This type of grimm is called a colossus I believe. I never thought these types of grimm actually existed. My father always told me about humanoid type grimm such as the colossus, the slit-mouth, and the apathy but I thought he was just pulling my leg. I guess he wasn’t after all.

The colossus seems to be covered from head to toe with armor, so there’s no way I can fight it head on. I will have to try a different approach. As I’ve noted a couple seconds ago, it doesn’t seem to be very fast, so I might be able to bait it into going for another strike and take advantage of the opening. It also looks like its only weak or uncovered spots seem to be the eyes, parts of its neck, and the two slits that run from its eyes down to its chin. I will have to find a way to get up there to land a strike. Hmm... what if I try this?

After taking a couple seconds to analyze my situation, the colossus then rushes me again and goes for a kick with its right leg followed by another stomp with that same leg. Though somewhat intelligent enough to hide in plain sight and attack those who get near, it seems that is the limit of its intelligence. Another advantage perhaps? Let’s find out.

I jump backwards again, almost being backed into the ravine wall behind me. With nowhere else to go, I immediately run forward toward the grimm’s leg. I jump and land on its right knee and it immediately attempts to try and grab me with its left hand. I bounce off the knee knowing it would do this and grab onto its left forearm. It then tries another attempt to grab me with its other hand and I use my momentum to swing off its left arm and land on its right. I now have a clear shot for its head.

I pull out the sais and run up its right arm toward the open area and go right for its right eye and neck. I drive the sais into its vital areas and made sure to dig deep… but it’s not going down like I thought it would. Instead, seemingly unfazed by my attack, it just grabs me with its massive hand and throws me off effortlessly as if it were just swatting a fly away and I land about halfway down the stream in this ravine. I hit the ground with a bit of a hard thud and slide down the stream a bit, causing a sharp pain to make its presence known in my side. My side hurts like crazy now but, thankfully, the water sort of slowed down my fall and partially “cushioned” me, saving me from further damage. I slowly get up and see the colossus is walking toward me with a purpose.

What I did should have at least badly wounded it, if not kill it. That was a vital area I struck. But instead, it just tossed me aside as if I were nothing. It didn’t even flinch! At that point, the true nature of my situation became evidently clear: It’s not that I can’t fight this thing head on, I can’t fight it at all. I can’t just get up and run from it either-- not with my side hurting this bad since it will most likely catch up to me. And even if I do manage to get away, there is a chance it will try to follow me, and it will only be a matter of time until I encounter it again. I need to figure out how to beat it right here and now.

I got it! If I can’t fight this thing myself, then I’ll just let the environment do the fighting for me.

I glance behind me really quick and see that I am just a few yards from the shadow of the overpass. I think I have another idea on how to beat it-- a crazy one, but also the only one. But before I put it into motion, I need to try and gauge it to see what it can do. The colossus eventually quickens its pace to try and attack me again. I count out loud to myself.

“One, two, three, four, five--”

By the time I reach 5, it reaches me and tries to pound me into the ground again. I move out of the way (and out of the stream) and water goes splashing everywhere. Five seconds. That’s how long it took for it to reach me from a distance of about 25 yards (22.8 meters) away from where I am. That means it can probably go about 5 yards (4.5 meters) per second at what looks to be about its top speed. I guess this type of grimm wasn’t really built to run (considering the fact that if it did, it would’ve caught up to me much sooner). I will use that as part of my plan.

After missing its attempted strike from when it caught up to me, it then immediately tries to kick me into the ravine wall again with its right leg and I move to the outside and count again.

“One, tw--”. It swings the back of its right hand at me and I lean backward, staring at the giant fist as it just glosses over my face. That was close. But now I know it takes about 2 seconds for follow-up strikes. It’s movements in general aren’t very fast and it seems to attack without thinking. The colossus then just turns its head and looks at me with its expressionless face as it turns to face me again. It’s so creepy how silent this thing is. It hasn’t even made a single sound since this encounter started. I wonder if it even can make any noise at all. As it gets up and turns toward me, I begin making my way back toward the waterfall so I can test its strength.

“Come on, big guy! I’m going to test you out a bit.” I say as I run (or hobble at a very fast pace is more like it) back toward the waterfall with it not very far behind to get more room.

In order for my plan to beat it to even be able work, I need to see how hard it can hit. As it starts to close the distance between us, I scale a dead tree sitting on the bank near the waterfall, trying to ignore the pain in my side. Luckily, I got up high enough that it couldn’t reach me by the time it caught up. Now, let’s see what it can do.

It originally tried to reach up for me like a child desperately reaching for their balloon as it floats into the air, but when it realized I was out of its reach, it kicked the base to get me back down. The base of the tree easily broke like it was made of paper mâché, and it also managed to uproot it as well. The tree was now falling toward the colossus and I was at the middle section of it when it got struck, which means that if I don’t do something soon, I’m going to land directly into its follow-up attack. To get out of the way, I moved a bit further up the falling tree, barely dodging a direct punch to the center that shattered it into splinters and causing the upper part of the tree to weightlessly fly over its head by a few feet. It is insanely strong! This thing breaks trees like I snap twigs! If I had stayed where I was, I would have been turned into paste.

Since I was on the upper section of the tree, due to the force of its punch, that part essentially flipped over its head and went behind it and I had to jump off before it hit the ground. I ended up landing behind the colossus after that split second of being airborne and I noticed something strange about its legs. The sections behind its knees weren’t covered either, exposing the unprotected darkness underneath. I attacked the open area by stabbing my sais into it to see how it would react and it was brought to a knee by my attack. To my surprise, it actually looked affected from that one and I even managed to temporarily immobilize it. The colossus stayed down for about 3 seconds before striking the ground (presumably out of frustration, which felt like a mini earthquake beneath my feet) before it recovered and got back up to face me again. I wasn’t expecting this, but I will definitely make that a factor in my plan. After gathering my information on its speed, intelligence, strength, etc., I think I can now fully execute my plan.

The colossus begins moving toward me with its purpose-like walk again only now, it seems it only tries to rush me when I am a certain distance away due to me pissing it off. Because of this, I always keep myself just out of reach of it as an attempt to control the pace it approaches me with. I begin leading the herculean titan into the shadow of the overpass while dodging whatever strikes and kicks it tries to throw at me (as well as anything it literally tries to throw at me such as any nearby large rocks or the remains of the fallen tree). At a certain point, I decided to speed up my pace a bit to increase my distance, knowing it would try and rush me the second I got far enough. I take advantage of this and position myself so that I am cornered between one of the ravine walls and the colossus every time while keeping myself within the shadow of the giant overpass. Each time it rushes me to strike me, I dodge and it ends up hitting the wall, which causes some rubble from the overpass to fall and lightly hit my shoulder or head. I think my plan is working. At this point, I’ve led it into hitting the wall so many times, that one more solid strike should be enough.

As I back myself into the wall for the last time, it throws a haymaker at my head with its right hand and I move out of the way as it makes a solid hit on the face of the wall dead on, which caused a rumble to emanate from the overpass above us. 

Alright that should do it! Time to act. I should have about 5 seconds, so this has to be perfect. To make sure how much time I have, I’ll count the seconds in my head.

Taking advantage of the adrenaline now coursing through me, I quickly hop onto its arm and run up and flip over its head before it has the chance to shake me off or grab me with its other hand. As I flip over, I throw both of the sais into the back of its knees stunning the colossus again and temporarily immobilizing it. I land on my feet and quickly retrieve my sais.

I need to hurry. My 5 seconds start now before a large chunk of the overpass comes crashing down our heads. Just like last time I struck it in the knees, the colossus will take about 3 seconds to recover. Those 3 seconds are meant for me to build some distance between us so the colossus doesn’t slow me down. If I’m correct (and I hope I am because math isn’t my forte), I should get out with about a second to spare and the colossus will be killed at the last second. As soon as I pulled out my sais from its knees, I turn and begin running out from the shadow of the overpass.

5!

Before I get far enough from it, the colossus, probably aware that it wouldn’t be able to get up in time to catch up to me, quickly looks over and desperately reaches for me and just manages to wrap its left hand around my body to pull me back. Damn it! Not now! I need to hurry! What am I going to do?! How am I going to escape its grip?

4!

Wait! “Grip!” That reminded me of something: I remember reading somewhere that the pinky finger contains a large portion of the human hand’s grip strength. Judging from its human-like appearance, ff the way this thing is built applies by human anatomy, it should lose just enough of its grip for me to slip out. 

I slip out one of the sais and am forced to use one of my bullets. I aim and pull the trigger!

BANG!

Shooting out its pinky finger leaves me with 3 bullets left.

I feel the grip loosen a bit and I manage to slip out and continue running.

3!

I am about a few yards in front of the colossus, just out of its reach. Damn! The grimm grabbing me cost me a bit of time. This might be closer than I originally planned. I am just feet away from escaping the (soon-to-be) collapsing overpass so I can’t slow down now. Every second counts.

I then glance behind me and I see the colossus make a small lunge or pounce toward me as it reaches out again and wraps its right hand on my leg and takes me down. Only this time, I can’t shoot its pinky finger again because of how it’s holding me. Because of how it has me, the only real "clear" shot for me would be to shoot through my ankle and cripple myself. The grimm then begins to drag me back toward it as it stares at me with its hollow eyes.

It’s trying to pull me back in! I think it plans to take me down with it!

I desperately try to dig my sais into the ground to pull myself out, but it was a futile attempt.

2!

I don’t know what to do now! I can’t get away! I think I’m going to die!

1!

Just then, almost as if the gods themselves were watching over me, a large, sharp piece of rock falls and lands on an open section of the grimm’s elbow, severing the colossus’ forearm. Now’s my chance to get away!

0!

Next thing you know, a loud rumbling comes from above and I see a large section of the stone overpass about to crumble on top of us. I quickly sprint out of the way and keep going to as safe of a distance as possible as it comes crashing down. The last image I see of the colossus is it staring at me, then slowly drifting its head upward before it immediately becomes completely overtaken by the rocks coming down on it and crushing it (or at least I hope). Dust and water are sent flying everywhere as a result of the impact. I was completely engulfed, and I needed to move even further back so I could avoid inhaling it. Just as I predicted, the grimm was just a hair late. But still, that was way too close for comfort. I got lucky when that sharp rock severed its arm. Thank the gods for that one.

Just as the dust was settling, I could see some kind of black mist or smoke, begin to seep out and emanate from the rubble as it floated up into the air. I remember hearing from my father that when a grimm dies, its body evaporates into a black smoke and disappears. That must mean one thing: 

The colossus is dead.

I survived, but barely.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I now realize the danger is over… at least for now.

Some of the dust and splashing water from the collapse ended up getting on me and coating my entire body, making me look like a wet ghost. I need a bath now.

I look over in the horizon as the setting sun was starting to now quickly transition to night.

(Sigh).

Looks like I’ll be resting here for the night after all.

*CHAPTER END*

GRIMM PROFILES: #1: The Colossus: 

(Inspiration: ancient wonder of the world, The Colossus of Rhodes)

Resembling a large humanoid statue, this type of grimm likes to hold still in order to lure curious unsuspecting travelers nearby so it can get the jump on its prey (however, that seems to be the height of its intelligence). The colossus is also the second largest of the humanoid type grimm with its height being as small as 4.5 meters (14.7 feet) to as big as 6.5 meters (21.3 feet). These type of grimm also prefer to work alone rather than in groups, which makes it incredibly rare to see more than one in the same general vicinity.

Physically, they are one of the most powerful type of grimm out there. One solid hit could knock out any huntsman's aura completely or level an entire cliff side in a few blows. Covered from head to toe with armor, their durability is also unmatched by most grimm. They are so durable that a huntsman once shattered his weapon on its armor before getting caught in its grasp and squeezed to death. The highest fall a colossus has ever survived is from 100 feet (30.4 meters). They are also known for having incredible pain tolerance as well. You could drive a pair of sais into its eyes and neck or cut off its arm and it will carry on like nothing happened. Because of its high pain tolerance, injuries almost never phase it (unless you know exactly where to hit them such as a weak spot behind their knees).   
However, despite its immense strength, the colossus is more brawn than brains and is one of the least intelligent grimm on the face of Remnant, which makes it very easy to outwit. 

Believe it or not, the colossus has one of the lowest human/faunus mortalities compared to most grimm on Remnant. Aside from their minimal intelligence, they are also one of the slowest grimm and are very easy to escape and outmaneuver. The colossi try to compensate for this by spending most of their time in rocky or mountainous areas such as ravines or canyons since there are multiple ways to corner their prey and prevent it from escaping.

In combat, the colossus, is one of the most difficult type of grimm to defeat head on. When fighting one, it is not recommended to try and slowly and methodically dismantle it since that will be a much more difficult and much more dangerous task. Because of this, the most effective way to combat this type of grimm is to outsmart and outmaneuver it by using your environment to your advantage, which can very easily be done due to its slow movements and lack of intelligence. If you do try to engage the colossus head on, then you are going to need to a lot of stamina and a lot of strength, because you will essentially be engaging in a major war of attrition. 

Overall, although this grimm's strengths lie in physical power and durability, speed and brains are its kryptonite. So long as you are faster and smarter (which isn't a high bar to reach anyway), you should be fine. The colossus is only as dangerous as you allow it to be. So long as you don't try to fight it head on, chances are you will survive.

Danger Level: C.

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Yo! I'm back! (For now that is). I have another busy couple of weeks ahead of me for school, but I luckily managed to find some free time to work on and post chapter 5. I was originally going to post chapter 5 this Friday, but I wanted to close out April with one more chapter. 

Anyway, with this chapter, we officially kick off the second act of Volume I. Which reminds me, (I forgot to mention this last time), Volume I will be divided into 5 acts. Act 1 was chapters I-IV (1-4), Act 2 will be chapters V-VIII (5-8), Act 3 will be chapters IX-XII (9-12), Act 4 will be chapters XIII-XV (13-15), and Act 5 will be chapters XVI-XX (16-20).

Also you might be wondering about that new "grimm profiles" thing I put in. Whenever I introduce a new grimm, I will essentially put their profile that I created at the end of the chapter they were introduced in and basically give a run down of their strengths, weaknesses, abilities (if any), etc. Like for example, when we get introduced the next new grimm this volume, the slit-mouth, there will be a profile at the end of the chapter that will be very similar to the one at the end of this chapter.

Anyway, I think that is all I have for today so I will leave you with fun fact #5:

Fun Fact #5: This chapter originally was not supposed to exist. It's not even in the outline I wrote for this volume. The reason why I created and inserted this chapter at the last minute was because there was something that happens in the next chapter (which would have been the original chapter 5) that I thought would have been a bit too soon, so I added this chapter to put some space in between chapter 4 and the original chapter, which is now chapter 6. Now that I think about it, I guess that technically makes chapter 5 a bit of a filler chapter doesn't it?


	6. Volume I: Chapter VI: Man's Best Friend

**Volume I: Chapter VI: Man's Best Friend:**

Ugh! When am I going to find a fish in this stream?! I haven’t seen one in days! I hope I didn’t accidentally kill the entire fish population here. Since I haven’t found any fish, I’ve been mainly eating whatever small animals came my way (which were mainly squirrels and sometimes king fishers that would occasionally fly by).

“Whatever, I guess.” I think to myself with a defeated sigh. I was starting to get tired of fish anyway. So, you know what? I don’t care. In fact, I needed a break from fish.

Anyway, it’s been about thr— what was that?

I jerk my head toward the stream in response to the noise of what sounded like something hopping out of the water and landing back in. I look around frantically, yet completely focused, with an intense look in my eyes and a stone-faced expression. After a few seconds of darting my eyes around the bank of the stream, I find it.

_(Gasp!)_

A fish! A fish! Finally! I haven’t found one in this stream for days!

I can’t let this one get away! I pull out one sai and follow along the bank of the stream to stalk the fish while also hoping that my stomach doesn’t rumble and scare it away. The thought of my stomach rumbling possibly scaring it away makes me wonder something: can fish even hear? Anyway, once I get confident enough, I take aim with my sai and beam it at the fish. I land a direct hit as the weapon impales the water-bound creature through the side and pinning it in place. I’ve noticed that I’m starting to get better with my throws since I started trying to conserve my remaining ammo. I pull the fish out as it thrashes and flails around, desperate to escape my clutches.

“Sorry to have to do this to you, little guy.” I say to the fish with sympathy in my voice. “But I haven’t had fish in a while and I’m also starving, sooo...”

Without finishing my sentence, I proceed to swing the fish as hard as I could against a solid rock that was sitting on the bank, instantly killing it and then begin to prepare it for lunch. The first thing I do for preparations is I use my mother’s knife to saw off its head and then scrape the blade against its body to remove the scales. I then make an incision down its stomach and proceed to open it up and remove its insides. After I take care of that, I bring the dead fish over to the stream and hold it in such a way so that I can wash it out and clean it off. 

After that, I look for and gather a few twigs and sticks lying on the ground or break some off a few nearby bushes as well as grab some stones lying around near the stream so that I can make myself a small fire. After the fire’s been made, I take a long stick and skewer it through the wound of the fish and hold it over the fire to roast. Once I feel it is finished, I bite down on it and eat, making sure to steer clear of the bones. It would really suck if I came this far just to die from choking on a fish bone. It tastes alright. Not bad. Not great. Just alright. At least it’s better than starving though. The reason why I prefer to catch and eat fish over other animals has nothing to do with a preferred taste, but more it is because I personally find it easier to prepare and less tedious.

Now where was I? Oh right!

Anyway, it’s been about three days since my fight with the colossus. My side still really hurts from when it threw me during the fight and it makes it a bit difficult for me to breathe and move around, so I’ve been trying to pace myself these past three days. Also, when I was bathing yesterday, I couldn’t help but notice that on my side, there was a large bruise on my hip area just above my thigh and another not as large, but still very noticeable bruise on a section of my ribs. I honestly have no idea how to treat this kind of thing so I’ve just been soaking in the cold water when I take a bath and trying to take deep breaths. I still can’t tell if it’s working or not. Maybe I’ll be able to get proper treatment at Oniyuri. But hey! At least I can still eat though. After finishing my lunch, I get up to scoop some water to put out the fire and then continue on my journey.  
A few hours of me following the stream pass until I begin to notice that the water is starting to get faster and rougher and the terrain is starting to become rockier and is starting to form a bit of an incline. Something tells me I may be approaching some rapids. They’re not too bad though since the area I’m in isn’t that mountainous and is still a bit forest-like, but I should still be careful not to fall in. I decide to stick to what I’m doing and follow along the rapids while staying a good distance away from the bank.

After spending some time following the winding, snake-like waters, the rapids eventually began to straighten out and reach a bit of a “calm” area. In the distance, I could hear another loud distant noise that sounded like rushing water. Another waterfall? I didn’t somehow go in a circle did I? Who am I kidding? There’s no way. Making sure to pace myself, I briskly jog up to the sound of the rushing water hoping that I am correct to doubt my suspicions. When I got closer I noticed there were a lot of sun rays shining in through the leaves of the trees, which caused me to partially shield my eyes so I didn’t get blinded. Maybe I didn’t go in a circle. Whatever it is I’m coming up to, it seems like it’s a very open area. When I get closer to the waterfall, I begin to hear something else. It sounds like...seagulls and crashing waves?

I jog up ahead and I am instantly greeted by a large vertical drop (that I almost ended up running right off of until I stopped myself just in time) as the large waterfall poured out from the top of the cliff and into the sea or bay or gulf or whatever type of body of water I’m staring at right now.

“What?” I say out loud in confusion.

I thought this stream was supposed to lead me to Oniyuri, so why on Remnant am I standing at the edge of a cliff?! I’ve been following this thing for over three weeks now! Was following this thing nothing more than a waste of time? What’s going on?

I look to my right and I see a long shoreline with a very large hill just behind it. Hmm. Maybe I can climb to the top of that hill so I can get a view of the surrounding area and get some kind of idea regarding where I am.  
I walk along the edge of the cliff while being wary not to step on any loose ground that will send me crashing into the water (and probably some jagged rocks) should it collapse under me. The ground gradually levels off more and more underneath me as it forms a steady downward incline and I eventually reach the end of the cliff and step onto the beach of the shoreline. As I step out from the tree line and into the open area I begin to feel the full effects of the sun’s brightness today as I once again shield my eyes from the rays. For once, I actually wish for there to be a few clouds in the sky for some shade. Oh well. At least the beach itself makes for a bit of relaxing atmosphere—more specifically the crashing waves, which I find to actually be pretty therapeutic to listen to.

Where I am currently standing, it’s still very rocky, especially near the water. There are even a few tidepools there that gradually increase in quantity (but more spread out in distance from each other) as they go down the shoreline. Maybe I can find some food in them like a crab or two or maybe a small octopus if I’m lucky enough. The length of the beach seems to stretch for a very long, undeterminable distance. I can’t even see the end of it from here. From the beach to the hill behind it, I see it gradually gets grassier and grassier as the ground just eventually becomes normal soil that begins to make a steady upward incline to the peak. 

As I walk along the beach for a bit, I begin to notice some indentations on the ground causing me to crouch to get a better look and inspect them. Animal tracks. Hmm. They look canine. Too small to be a fox. Too big to be an adult wolf either. Maybe it’s a pup? Or maybe a really big coyote? If I had to guess, whatever it is, it’s probably about as tall and big as I am. I let my gaze follow the tracks and as I look down the shoreline, I can see what is making them: A creature with dark grayish fur. Although I can’t tell exactly what it is, one thing I can confirm is that the creature is without a doubt canine. I move down to some of the tide pools for cover and use that cover to get a closer look at the creature.   
It doesn’t look to be a grimm despite its fur appearing a bit dark, but more of a grayish shade as I’ve noted earlier. Also, when it’s in the sun, I can see there are some spots of golden brown all over its body, but that is probably most likely due to how the sunlight hits its body. It’s pretty far away, so I can’t really tell for sure, but that is what I am ruling since that’s what seems to be most likely. It also looks to be very malnourished— almost like a walking skeleton. I’m still having trouble making out exactly what this creature is. And honestly, I’m starting to not care anymore because whatever it is, one thing’s for sure is that I’m starting to get hungry again. Perhaps I can make dinner out of it. The sun should be setting soon anyway. I shouldn’t have to worry about making too much noise when I approach it since the crashing waves should be able to cover any possible noises my movements make.

As I make a move toward it, it suddenly stops and begins to turn toward one of the tidepools to get a drink of water. Now is my chance. But I can’t get too close to it though or it might notice me and run. I’ll have to use one of my bullets and make it count. From where I’m standing, I am about 50 yards (45.72 meters) away from it. I might need to get a bit closer. I stand up and start making my way forward. After a few seconds of stalking my prey, the creature eventually jolts its head up, which made me immediately duck back down behind one of the tidepools. Looks like I’ll have to shoot from here, which is now about 30 yards (27.4 meters) away. I don’t think I’ll be able to get closer. 

It seems like it’s on alert now. It probably caught my scent or I must not have been quiet enough. I slowly poke my head up and see that it is back to drinking water from the tidepool. I take this chance to pull out one of my sais and flip it to the other side so I can shoot it. I then take a deep breath and hold it and aim to take my shot. Now that I look at it again, I can definitely confirm that it’s about as big as I am. A bit skinny and bony though, but it’ll definitely feed me more than whatever I find in the tidepools could. Anyway, I have about three shots left so I can’t waste this one. I steady my arm and aim the barrel at the creature’s head. My finger is on the trigger. Just a little more pressure and then Bang!

Just as I am about to pull the trigger and send a bullet careening through its skull, the canine finishes drinking and turns to head back to the woods. As it does so, I couldn’t help but notice something hanging from its neck that caused me to hesitate. There’s something around its neck. What is that? A piece of cloth? I squint my eyes to and lean my head a bit closer in its direction. It looks like… a scarlet and black bandana… with a diamond shaped pattern. Upon seeing this, my heart beat immediately sped up as my hands started to involuntarily tremble.

“No! It can’t be! There’s no way! Is it really him?” I thought to myself.

I quickly take my finger off the trigger and put my weapon away. I then grab a nearby rock and toss it into a tide pool 20 yards (18.2 meters) in front of me. The canine takes notice and moves toward it out of curiosity of what could have been the source of the noise. Now I can get a closer look without having to leave my position. I look closer again and I can barely contain myself as I am about to be overcome with emotion.

The gray fur that I noted earlier is not fur at all but is actually a layer of ash covering its actual golden-brown fur underneath (which was not an illusive result of the sunlight hitting it). There is no mistaking it. That has to be him. The golden-brown fur and the scarlet bandana. It’s him! It’s really him!

“B-Bru--” I struggle to get it out as I try to keep my voice from breaking. I try again and manage to get it out.

“Brunooo!” I yell loud enough for him to hear me. 

Bruno’s ears perk up and he sharply turns his head in my direction, almost as if he immediately recognized my voice (even though he rarely ever heard it). I stand up and race toward him at top speed, forgetting about the pain in my side and ribs due to my excitement, and Bruno follows suit, tail wagging, eager to reunite with his best friend. When I got closer, I noticed he wasn’t really running toward me but more just weakly and slowly stumbling toward me-- like he just came out of a marathon-- obviously due to his severely malnourished frame. On one hand, it’s extremely sad for me to see him this way. But on the other hand, I am just so happy to see him! I can't help but be excited. As I reach him, Bruno trips on himself and falls, but I got there just in time to catch and hold him up. He’s so light! I then knelt down and gave him a hug as I wrapped my arms around his neck, his warm dog breath hitting me in the back of my neck.

“I--I thought I would never see you again! I missed you so m-much!” I say sniffling and trying to hold back my tears of joy. And to think I was literally seconds away from shooting him. I am so happy I didn’t go through with that.

I release Bruno to get a good look at his face and in response, he immediately licks my face like he always does.

“I love you too.” I say with a tearful smile and a small chuckle.

As I wiped the tears clouding my vision away, I couldn’t help but notice one of his eyes is closed.

“Bruno, your eye!” I say with a worried gasp. “What happened?” 

He was missing his left eye. He must have lost it trying to get out of Dorado. Maybe something fell on him? Or maybe he encountered a beowolf or something on his way out? I don’t know. Right now, what matters is that I have Bruno back and that is more than enough to make me happy. I didn’t want to be alone. He’s the only family I have left.

“Poor thing.” I say with a sympathetic voice, but still maintaining my smile out of just sheer excitement. “All skin and bone, can barely walk, and missing an eye. Don’t worry, Bruno. I may not be able to do anything about your eye, but I’m going to make sure you eat well tonight and help you get your strength back. We’ll take care of each other.”

I guess the grimm didn’t take everything from me after all.

* * *

As the sun slowly set on the horizon, the blue canvas would slowly be painted black by night as hundreds— no, thousands of stars would make their presence known, lighting up the sky like a bunch of little lanterns. The shattered sphere that was the moon was especially vibrant tonight as well as it hung over us and reflected off the sea as if it were looking into a mirror, inspecting itself. There was an area near the cliff that Bruno and I were going to spend the night under that provides a good source of shelter (or at least I think so) before we head off in the morning up the hill to see where we are. It was a small overhang where I had already built a fire mainly for warmth since it was pretty cold in this area at night. The night sky provided enough light as it is so the fire didn’t really matter much in that specific regard.

_(Sigh.)_

I hope I find Oniyuri soon. Even though it’s late August (the 29th to be exact), Fall isn’t that far away and it’s only going to get colder out here.

Since I decided against shooting Bruno (really glad I didn’t do that), I decided to take a look in the tidepools earlier for anything we could possibly eat tonight. I mainly found oysters and a few medium sized crabs that were molting that I caught, killed, and prepared. I’ve learned tonight that I really like soft shelled crab. The oysters, on the other hand, were okay. They weren’t bad or anything, but they have a bit of a salty taste that caught me off-guard. But aside from that, those tide pools were a real life saver or we both would have gone hungry tonight. I figured Bruno was starving so I shared my dinner with him 

“Here you go, Bruno.” I say as I pull off another piece of my soft-shelled crab and feed it to him. “Eat up okay? You need this waaay more than I do right now.” 

I watch Bruno look at me for a second with his one eye and then proceed to lower his head as he took the pieces of crab in his jaws and wolfed it down in just a matter of seconds. Poor thing. It must have been really hard for him. He lost everything too— arguably, more than me. I still wonder how exactly he lost his eye. But at the same time, I don’t think I want to know. Hopefully, we can get him treated and some more food once we reach our destination, wherever it is. A yawn then begins to escape me as I slowly succumb to emotional and physical fatigue. But I’m not ready to go to sleep just yet.

I then take a moment to take in the noises surrounding us as Bruno was laying down, grooming his paws. The waves faintly colliding with each other and crashing on the shore were a bit quiet but still audible enough to clearly make their presence known. It was somewhat soothing. Almost like nature was trying to sing me one of its lullabies. It also got a bit breezy for a little bit as well, but it wasn’t bad. It actually felt kinda nice. The feeling of that cool air softly blowing against my face was as gentle as a motherly kiss. The bugs singing and chirping in the woods, though very faint and distant, also contributed to the atmosphere. I then let out a fatigued sigh.

Nature’s chorus. There’s truly nothing like it. 

Just then, a seagull flies up to us, interrupting my thoughts. The winged intruder was eyeing me and Bruno, hoping to snag some of our food away. I get up and throw a stick at it, scaring it off for now as it let out a series of squawks almost as if it were cursing at us. Normally, I would go out of my way to feed an animal if it came up to me for food, but (even though I’ve never seen one) I’m smart enough to know what happens when you feed a seagull. I’ve heard the stories and I don’t feel like attracting an entire flock. Plus, we’re hungry and we need to eat too. The bird can just go snag something from one of the tide pools if it wants food that badly.

I stare out at the beach for a few more minutes and then look back to Bruno and see that he was done with what I just gave him as he was now licking his chops and staring at me with a begging expression.

“Want some more, bud?”

Bruno responds by walking over to me, still with a begging look on his face, almost as if he were saying “Yes, please.”

“Oh, Bruno. You should know better. You don’t have to beg me for food. Here you go, buddy.” I hand Bruno the last few pieces of my crab (a couple legs and half a claw) and I finish with eating a small handful of oysters.

I’m still a little hungry, but I’ll survive. Bruno finishes the rest of the crab and walks over to me and lays down beside me, his head resting on my lap. I begin to gently pet Bruno as he slowly falls asleep and I proceed to kiss him good night on the top of his head. Eventually, his breathing becomes slower and more relaxed as he finally falls asleep in my lap. I then put out the fire by grabbing handfuls of sand and piling it on the flames, smothering them. After that’s done, I lean to my left side with my head resting on Bruno’s bony back and close my eyes as I slowly drift into the realm of dreams, listening to nature’s lullaby as my head slightly lowers and raises with every breath my canine companion takes.

  


* * * 

“Come on Bruno…” pant “…we’re almost…” pant “…at the top.” I struggle to say as exhaustion starts to hit me.

It is now morning and Bruno and I have almost reached the peak of this massive hill. We’ve been walking for almost a straight hour at this point with no rest. I thought it’d be easy because it was a steady incline, but it’s actually quite taxing—more taxing than I initially thought it would be. Maybe it’s because of a lack of sleep? No, it couldn’t have been because I didn’t have any of those nightmares to wake me up last night. In fact, I didn’t wake up at all last night. It was actually the best I’ve slept in weeks. However, Bruno’s bony back didn’t make for a very good pillow. Then I guess that means it’s most likely because of my injury that I am running out of breath so quickly.

Anyway, we had a bit of an eventful opening to this day. We woke up surrounded by a flock of seagulls, who were hoping to steal whatever possible scraps we may have left. I got up with Bruno following suit and we spent a good minute or two trying to scare the feathered pests away. Man, they were annoying! I also made sure to go to the tide pools once more to grab a few more raw oysters for lunch later and stashed them in my pocket (since the other one is still torn).

As we get to a certain point, my side starts to hurt even more and it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. But I’m so close to the top! Just a bit more to go. I go about another 100 yards (91.4 meters) before I feel absolutely spent. I look behind me and see Bruno also struggling to keep up. I guess we should take a break after all. 

I lay down on a large rock sitting on the hill and it feels really cool and somewhat refreshing. I wait for Bruno to catch up and he lays down with me. After catching my breath, I take advantage of this time of rest and use it for us to have our lunch break and eat the oysters I snagged earlier today. I cracked them against the rocks and opened them. It wasn’t a lot so we ended up eating them in about less than a couple minutes. Still not used to that salty taste though. It gets me every time. 

Well, no time to take it all in (my surroundings I mean). We have to get moving again.

After our small break, Bruno and I get up and resume to soldier the rest of the way up the hill. We eventually made it to the top, exhausted and dirty and (in my case) sweaty. But it was worth it. The view is amazing up here! It feels like I could see forever. There’s an awful lot of green though—not that that’s a bad thing… it’s just that there’s a lot more than expected. I looked behind us and the beach now appeared very distant and small from this height and distance. Behind us, a forest of blue. In front of us, a sea of green. Each just as open and vast as the other. 

“Huh. Interesting contrast.” I mentally commented.

As I looked closer from the top of the hill, I noticed some kind of line running through the forest. Wait! That must be a path or some kind of road! That means civilization! As I carefully followed the trail with my eyes, I eventually started to notice a small faraway spot where there was no green and something somewhat large (but still distant) barely poking out from the top of the trees. It’s a village! That must be Oniyuri! I guess that river did lead me to it after all… in a way. From this distance, we look to be about a few days away (that is if we keep going at the pace that we’ve been going). We should get there by September 2nd. We just need to get to that trail and then we have a clear shot to our destination—to getting our lives back.

I still can’t believe I’m almost there. The goal is in my sights. There it is: Oniyuri. Just a little bit more and then Bruno and I can finally get our lives back. But first, I think I’m going to take a longer break this time. I need to catch my breath again.

***CHAPTER END***

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Hey everyone! Guess who's baaaack?!

School just got out for me and I finally finished all my finals and papers last Friday. And you know what that means: I no longer have an excuse if I end up going a while without posting. 

Speaking of which, there is something I wanted to announce regarding my posting schedule. Usually I like to post a new chapter every Friday, but I want to slightly alter my posting schedule to posting a new chapter every other Friday. I am doing this purely out of necessity because when I was originally posting chapters every Friday, I pretty much had to stay up really late everyday both working on the later chapters and editing the next chapter for posting. And because of that, I ended up not getting a lot of sleep and not getting a lot done. I'm sorry to have to do this, but me changing my schedule to a new chapter every other Friday instead of every Friday means that I can dedicate my off-week to working on the later chapters and I can then use my on-week to edit the next chapter for posting while also not ending up going to bed at sunrise. 

Whether this schedule change will be permanent or temporary all depends on when I completely finish Volume I. Right now, I have just finished writing all the anthology chapters for Volume and I still have to revise them. After that, I will need to work on chapters 16-20 and then the epilogue chapter. And once all that is done, I can then get to work on Volume 2. 

Anyway, sleep deprivation aside, I am very happy to be back and writing again. I've been itching at this for almost 4 weeks now. And now that school's out, I should be able to get a lot more done, which means you'll be able to see a lot more from me. Now before I go and see you all again two weeks from now, I will leave you all with fun fact #6:

 **Fun Fact #6** : Bruno is based off my dog, Bruiser. He was a great Pyrenees mixed with a golden retriever. Bruiser was pretty much my best friend for pretty much the first 17 years of my life until he passed away in Fall 2017. In fact, when I was going over Bruno's design in chapter 1, that was literally just me giving an exact description of Bruiser. The only difference was that Bruno in this story has a red bandana, but Bruiser just had a red collar. Also (moving on from the subject of my dog), this was originally going to be chapter 5, but I didn't like the idea of Bruno returning so soon after the fall of Dorado, so I ended up moving this up to chapter 6 and wrote the new chapter 5 (The Sole Survivor) just to put some space in between.


	7. Volume I: Chapter VII: Oniyuri

*Heads up! This one's a long one.*

Oniyuri should be coming up any moment now… or at least I hope. I would love to find some shelter before it starts pouring rain. I mean, it’s already raining right now, but it is pretty light but I don’t know for how long it’ll stay that way before it picks up. The sky also looks really gray with dense, heavy clouds that look like they could give way at any moment. Almost like you could snap your fingers and then next thing you know it’ll start— …

[Rumble!]

Next thing you know, my thoughts were interrupted by a distant rumble of thunder as the rain started to gradually increase in density. Okay, maybe I should stop talking about the weather for the rest of the day— or at least, until I get there. I don’t want to jinx anything. Let’s change the subject, shall we?

It feels nice to walk on an actual road for once and not up a steep hill, or a cliff, or a treacherous ledge. Just a nice, manmade, road for our convenience. But there’s still something a bit strange about this trail. This trail is oddly...quiet...for one that is this close to a village— especially a rising one. You would think this trail would be loaded with people for us to run into who would be going back and forth with supplies and stuff to help develop the village and establish supply chains. Hmm. Maybe they’ve already finished development of the village early and are relaxing? Or maybe no one is awake yet? It is pretty early after all. Hopefully, I didn’t get turned around and we are actually walking in the opposite direction. It took us a while to reach this trail and make this much progress on it. I estimated that we would reach Oniyuri on September 2nd after I took my break when we reached the top of that hill and today is the 2nd. So we should be reaching it today (assuming I was correct and we actually didn’t get turned around). 

I look over to see Bruno who was trailing a bit behind me. He still looks very malnourished and skinny. I’ve been giving him most of my food for the past few days, which honestly leaves me going hungry sometimes, but I don’t care. He’s all that I have left and I will do anything to keep him with me, even if it means starving myself. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him too. Hopefully when we get there, we’ll find someone who will be able to give us some food that will be able to feed both of us.

I slow down to let Bruno catch up to me and I give a scratch underneath his chin. He loves it when I do that. He was so wet from the rain, but I wouldn’t say he was soaked though. His golden brown fur is lightly coated with little rain droplets almost as if he had walked through a wall of mist. You could almost say his fur looks white or transparent… or even silver. It’s actually kinda pretty. I hand him a bit of food from today and he eats it out of my hand and we continue down the trail.

* * *

(Sigh.)

Well this is one boring nature walk. I’m starting to think we got turned around and we just wasted our time. We’ve been walking for hours and still haven’t arrived at Oniyuri and the fact that we haven’t seen anyone on this road is starting to give me a sinking feeling that my suspicions are right. Well, at least the rain isn’t getting heavier--wait! Don’t talk about the weather. Remember? I don’t want to jinx it. But anyway, like I said, we might be going down the wrong direction and I’m really starting to get worried. I know I could simply just turn around and go the other way, but then there’s the slight possibility that I am going the right way and turning myself around will do anything but good—

(Gasp!)

“What is that?” I thought to myself as I saw something white in the distance.

“Is that…?” I think out loud as we begin to approach a clearing in the distance— the same clearing that I saw from atop that hill a few days ago. It looks like there is a white, stone wall with an open gateway, but it’s a bit hard to tell due to the rain slightly blowing in my face and getting into my eyes. I kept walking closer and soon became very elated to confirm what I was seeing as I could now get a clearer visual..

“This must be it!” I say in excitement, barely able to contain myself. I begin to gradually quicken my pace (while being careful not to run too fast because-- you know-- my ribs still hurt) and jog over to what must be Oniyuri with Bruno surprisingly being able to keep up in his physical state. 

As I got closer to my destination and reached the end of my journey, I couldn’t help but shake this feeling as my excitement started to slowly transition to uneasiness. The closer I got, things started to feel...strange— like how I felt when I was going on about how barren this road was despite being so close. I guess you could say it’s a gut feeling where, in this case, you know something isn’t right, but you don’t know why. As Bruno and I neared Oniyuri, it was still as dead silent as it was when it first came into our sights on this path a few seconds ago. And we’re definitely within ear-shot of any hustle and bustle that would be going on and it’s definitely not too early for people to be up at this point… but it’s still so dead silent. 

The only things I hear are me and Bruno panting, the rain lightly hitting the ground, and the slight rustle of leaves in the trees as the wind gently brought them to life.

I decided to stop early when I was about 50 yards (45.72 meters) from the open gateway and decided to lean on a wooden fence post nearby on the side of the road to catch my breath a bit. Man! Running with bruised ribs can really take a lot out of you! As I catch my breath, I pick my head up to get a look at the exterior walls.

The walls surrounding the place look to be in fine shape from what I can now see. They even look to be completed recently— maybe a few weeks ago—as they were coated in a fresh coat of white paint. Nothing really seems to be out of the ordinary at first glance. But besides that, why is it so quiet?

After catching my breath, I walked the rest of the way to the entrance.

With every step I took toward the gateway of Oniyuri, my uneasiness and unsettledness only worsened while my stomach sunk lower and lower into an empty abyss. I then stop in front of the gate for a few seconds and then set one foot in and enter the village. As I looked around me all I was greeted by was not the sight of everyday village life, but a ghost town in place of it— nothing more than an empty husk. I look around hoping to see someone— anyone or any sign of life in this barren place, but I only see around me nothing but empty, incomplete buildings... or at least I think they’re just incomplete. They didn’t look damaged from what I can tell. No, they clearly weren’t. They were just incomplete, but still in pretty good shape. It looks like it was abandoned during development. But why? What reason would they have to abandon this place? 

No. No, I’m jumping to conclusions here. I shouldn’t think like that. I haven’t even been here for a minute yet. It can’t be abandoned right? Or at least not completely. There has to be someone here! I know I didn’t come all this way for nothing! Or perhaps...

“M-maybe I’m in th-the wrong place?” I say to reassure myself, this time actually hoping that maybe I actually did get turned around. I then see some kind of post or sign sticking out of the cobblestone ground with a tablet with an inscription on it. I walk up to it and read it out loud:

“Oniyuri.” 

“No.” I say out loud as my fears have been confirmed.

This is the place. What happened? 

“HELLOOOO!” I scream at the top of my lungs, ignoring the pain it caused in my midsection, hoping to get some kind of response as I searched throughout the village. However, the only thing that replied back was my echo as it travelled through  
the village in vain search of a response.

This place can’t be completely empty. There is no way they would just up and abandon it like this right? I just heard how the village was on its way to being established a few months ago when Dorado was still up and they clearly made significant progress so what on Remnant happened?! There has to be someone here! I came too far! I need to get my life back…

I just want my life back.

* * *

I’ve been walking around Oniyuri for almost an hour now searching every building, house, nook, and cranny, desperately hoping to find some sign of life. But everywhere I’ve searched only ended up exactly like the last: empty and lifeless. I decided to start circling back to the entrance to see if I missed anything. I also sent Bruno (who was waiting for me at the entrance) to sweep the village one more time to see if he can possibly sniff out and find anyone. Am I really the only living soul here?

At that moment, my hand started to tremble as I was now fuming with frustration.

“Arghh!”

Letting my frustration audibly and visibly show, I kick a door to a house right by me as I passed by it. The door would fall to the ground, making a heavy thud that rang throughout the vacant village, kick up a small cloud of dust in the process. At first I thought I kicked the door off its hinges, but I then realized that the door wasn’t hinged at all and was just standing up on its own as if someone had meant to hinge it, but never got around to it. This is crazy! It’s like they just vanished off the face of the planet.

As I began to head back to the entrance of Oniyuri, I began to hear a strange, distant sound coming from one of the empty, incomplete homes. What is that? I didn’t hear that before when I first entered. While Bruno was busy, searching the rest of the village, I took it upon myself to investigate the noise. 

As I approached the home, the sound became clearer. It almost sounded like something in pain or anguish, but also muffled as if someone was crying or weeping and trying to hold it in by covering their mouth. I take a look through the doorway and I see the dark silhouette of what appears to be a frail woman hunched over in the center of the main room, back turned to me. As I step through the open doorway, thunder begins to rumble again as the rain once again slightly increases and gets a bit heavier. Huh. I guess I walked in at the right time. I decided to stay where I was at the doorway and softly called out to the figure instead of approaching so I wouldn’t startle her or catch her by surprise.

“Umm e- excuse me, miss? Are you okay?” I softly called out.

The silhouette instantly became silent, making the rain the only audible sound between us, and just sat there motionless. It was mildly unsettling, but it didn’t stop me from trying again, but a bit louder and with a bit more confidence in my voice.  
“H-hello? Miss? Are you okay? Where is everyone? Why is the town so empty? What hap--” I immediately choked on my words as I noticed there was something very strange about the woman’s hair. Am I actually seeing this? Though pitch black, her hair looked... barbed, resembling the stems of roses or the vines of a thorn bush or barbed wire. 

Just then, the silhouette slowly looked over its shoulder and turned to face me as it stood up. What I was staring face-to-face with froze me in place. Two red eyes silently glowed in the darkness, looking back at me. The instant that my eyes met its face, I was petrified as a feeling of dread involuntarily hit me. The creature wasn’t very tall and looked to be about 4.5-5 feet (1.3- 1.5 meters) tall even though it stood slightly slouched. Locks of its thorny hair were also hanging over its face, but I could still see its red eyes peering through. It had a frail, skeletal frame, but as it stepped into the light I could see that it was because on certain parts of its body below its neck, it had bone-like armor that very much made it look like it was wearing parts of a human skeleton. The only parts that were uncovered were its arms and the femoral regions of its legs. Instead of hands, it had one long blade-like appendage on each arm below the elbow that each resembled one half of a pair of scissors. But there was one thing about this grimm that made it especially different from most that I’ve seen or heard of. Although it had that mask-like bone structure that most grimm have on their faces, this one’s bone structure covered the lower part of its face instead of its whole face or its eyes, very much resembling a surgical mask. This grimm was another humanoid type grimm called a slit-mouth. And the fact that I just looked at its face means that I am now at its mercy, a word that these creatures (or any grimm for that matter) know nothing about.

Maintaining its eerie silence, the slit-mouth slowly and lackadaisically moved toward me as it subtly swayed side-to-side as it inched closer and closer until it was literally staring down at me. I was still so frozen at the sight of this thing, that I didn’t even move my head to meet its eyes as it approached, still staring directly in front of me. But it was too late. Whatever the thing had done to me, I was now at its mercy as I couldn’t move, frozen with an insurmountable amount of fear and dread. My mind was screaming at me to move and do something, but my body once again wouldn’t listen, just like on the night I lost my mother and just like the night Dorado fell when that man got eviscerated. Once again, my mind and body were at odds with each other.

“Come on! Damn it!” I thought to myself, trying to encourage my body to do something. “MOVE! Please?” 

It was no use. I was petrified. I couldn’t even bring myself to grab my weapons as the grimm slowly lowered its head to mine. I could feel its thorny locks rubbing against my scalp and forehead and dangle in front of my eyes a bit. It then slightly crouched to my eye level and cocked its head to one side as if it were trying to get a good angle on me, examining me like a cat. Then, to my shock, the surgical mask-like structure on its mouth began to split perpendicularly into four pieces, revealing an unhinge-able jaw filled with razor sharp teeth. Its mouth was so large and wide, it almost looked like someone had cut a line through each cheek from the corners of its mouth to its ears. I think it means to swallow me whole! At this moment, my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my throat.

“I-I can’t move! Why can’t I move? Come on! Move, body! I’m going to die! Please just move! Ju—"

My mental pleas were then interrupted by the loud booming sound of thunder followed by a flash of lightning that reflected off a puddle on the ground. Just then, after the flash that reflected off the puddle briefly filled my sight, I suddenly felt the courage to move again. Upon realizing that, I wasted no time trying to move back away from the slit-mouth. But unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough as the creature hooked me with its scissor-like appendages and basically threw me back against a wall in the house. It tried multiple times to skewer and slice, but because of my height and the length of its appendages, I was barely able to avoid being hit. It tried to impale me by thrusting its left arm toward my stomach, but I moved to the outside of it. Before I could follow up, the creature was too fast and spun around, bringing its other appendage toward my face, almost grazing my cheek as I leaned away, which would have carved an ear-to-ear grin onto my face if it had landed. It then followed up by bringing its other arm down to try and cleave me in two.

I tried to take that opening to pull out my weapons and strike, but the thing is so damn fast (not to mention my physical limitations due to my injury) that it quickly ducked under my attempted strike and used its speed to swiftly knock both weapons out of my hands. It then used its scissor appendages to pin me against the wall by pushing me against the vertical structure and pushing and holding my arms to my sides as it thrust its blades into the wall and turned its bladed arms horizontally. Because of that, I physically couldn’t move my arms unless I was content with either losing them or flaying them. I’d kick it, but I know damn well that I wouldn’t be able to get any power in the kick because of my position and the best I could do is give it a shin kick in one of the few places where it has armor.

As the slit-mouth grew confident that it won this small skirmish, it unhinged its jaw again, ready to swallow me whole and blend me up in its mouth of razor sharp teeth. But as the end seemed near, I remembered that I still had mom's knife in my pocket. But in order to live, I can’t mess this up.

Moving only my hand, I pinch the knife and use my fingers to gingerly slide it out of my pocket while being careful not to let my nerves get to me and drop it. After securing a firm grip on the knife, with a flick of the wrist, I toss the knife in the air and catch it by the handle with my teeth. Before the slit-mouth could swallow me, I spit the knife at it and the blade found it’s mark in its eye as the thing immediately backed off shrieking in pain and freeing me in the process.

Taking advantage of my opening (and forcing myself to ignore my injuries), I leap and yank the knife out of its eye, causing it to give a pained yelp. It tried to make another swipe at my legs to get me on the ground, but I lift my legs off the ground and moved them to the side at the same time, allowing my body to hit the ground sideways, but using my hand to stop the fall and rebound back on my feet. It tries to go for another shot, this time with its other arm, trying to decapitate me. This time I duck and leap as it then brought both appendages together, now resembling a large pair of scissors, trying to cleave me in two. But I timed my jumped just right and ended up just barely making it through the gap before it could cut me in half. As I jumped I twisted in a sort of corkscrew motion with my blade. Using the momentum of my spin, I make a strike for its head (although I couldn’t tell exactly where I hit it due to my spinning).

When I landed on the ground, I looked up at the slit-mouth as the red light started to leave its eyes while it stood there motionless. After a couple seconds, the top half of its head slid off its lower jaw and hit the ground in front of me with the rest of its body following suit. Hm. So that’s where I hit it. How poetic.

After a few seconds passed, for the tensions to die down, the realization of what just happened began to set in. I instantly dropped to my knees and my heartbeat started to race again (but not as fast as when the thing tried to swallow me). I then started to hold myself as I tried to regain my bearings. A few seconds later, I heard Bruno return from his sweep of the village and he located and approached me in the abandoned house. Upon seeing him, I instantly basically pounced on him and wrapped my arms around his furry body, holding him tightly.

“Come on! Pull yourself together, Simin!” I thought to myself as I tried to mentally recover. I began trying to take deep breaths (which was a struggle due to the pain it caused me) to prevent myself from hyperventilating. Eventually, after a minute of squeezing Bruno and moderating my breathing, I was starting to get myself back together. I don’t know why but having him here makes things feel easier than they really are.

Just as I managed to calm myself down, I then feel Bruno’s body language and breathing change as his head perked up in a sort of alert manner. This left me confused because I couldn’t see or hear anything dangerous nearby to cause him to react in such a way. Suddenly, Bruno shook himself free from my grip and headed toward the open doorway, stopping on the threshold in a guard-like stance as he gave off an aggressive grow that I could hear reverberate through the sound of falling rain. Not long after, I realized what had Bruno in defense mode. Because after Bruno gave off another growl, I heard another one— a lower, deeper growl that most certainly did not come from him. I looked in the direction that the other growl came from and it came from just outside the entrance to Oniyuri. Seconds after, in came crawling another grimm that was now facing us and heading right for us. The same type of grimm that caused my trauma, the same type of grimm that has tormented and haunted me (even in my dreams) more than any other grimm I’ve encountered, the same type of grimm that brutally killed my mother right in front of me: the beowolf. And just like that, due to being faced by the monster that started it all, my composure shattered as soon as I recovered it.

As the dread started to return while my mind started to spin like an uncontrollable whirlwind, I slowly backed into a corner, Bruno with me, as the beowolf crept closer with us in its sights and began to enter the front door of the abandoned house. As the black, hulking beast drew near, Bruno vainly increased the volume and intensity of his growls. Knowing what this monster was capable of, I grabbed Bruno and held him back so he wouldn’t charge at the thing and meet a similar fate to that of my mother. Plus, in his current physical state, Bruno wouldn’t stand a chance, even if he were fully healthy. The thing could easily rip him in half with just brute strength alone if it got its hands on him. And as for me, I, in my current physical (and very much mental) state, I’m not sure if I will win. I can hardly keep myself together.

Eventually, Bruno, whose fur was still wet, tried lunging at the monster, which allowed him to slip free as I lost my grip on him. Bruno leapt up at the beowolf and sunk his teeth into its neck. The beowolf slightly inched back almost like it was a bit surprised by Bruno’s actions, but it didn’t take long for the thing to fling Bruno off with its strength as if it were swatting a gnat. Bruno’s thin frame slammed into the wall with a heavy thud, leaving a crack behind as he let out a pained yelp. The sight of that sent flashes of my mother being slammed into the wall seconds before she was ripped to shreds. While I stood there in the middle of having a panic attack, the beowolf decided to briefly switch its attention to Bruno and move toward him. But why? I thought grimm are normally never concerned with animals. Unless… it aims to finish him so he won’t get in the way again!

Just like that night, I was having trouble finding the courage to move as I stood with much fear in my eyes. But as the beowolf headed toward Bruno, I was then brought back to the present as I could hear his faint whimpering underneath the bellows of the monster… and that was enough to snap me out of it.

If I don’t do something now, I’m going to lose Bruno too! I’ve already lost too much to the grimm… and I won’t allow myself to lose another!

“Nooo!” I yelled as my body felt like it went into autopilot and charged the beast, picking up my weapons that were still lying on the ground when doing so.

As I ran toward the beast, it sharply turned its head to look at me. My mind was still a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions right now, but at this point my body was the one in control. I leapt at the creature, avoiding its jaws, and repeatedly started blindly stabbing it in the back and neck, desperate to save my friend. However, the stabs (which hit no vital areas) seemed to only agitate the grimm as it also flung me into the opposite wall, knocking the wind out of me. I hit the ground with a hard thud and the pain in my ribs almost became unbearable. I then began to also feel a warm, thick liquid start to well up in my throat and fill my mouth with a metallic taste. I started gagging as I coughed up blood onto the ground, watching the puddle grow with every drop that I ejected from my mouth.

I look up and see the beast is approaching me again. As I look behind him, I can see Bruno, who was still on the ground, but no longer in the beowolf’s crosshairs. On one hand, I don’t have to worry about him getting involved or hurt at the moment with the monster now focused on me again. But on the other, I now have to take on my mother’s killer by myself, injured, while amidst having what I imagine a panic attack would feel like.  
The beowolf leapt at me and I took my small window of opportunity to roll under it and end up behind it, now switching our positions. It then sharply turned its head to look at me again and took a swipe with the back of its right hand. I moved backward (not as fast as I normally could) to dodge and it quickly turned around and caught and pinned me to the ground with its left paw, knocking my weapons out my hands in the process and making it almost impossible for me to breathe. I struggled to reach for my weapons, but to no avail. Well, I guess there’s only one thing I can do now. 

Once again utilizing it in a sticky situation, I am able to slip my mother’s knife out again and, just like I did with the slit-mouth, I dug the knife into the creature’s left eye as it tried to bring its head down to bite mine off with its massive jaws. The thing howled in pain but didn’t release me yet. I then pulled the knife out and repeatedly stabbed the wrist and palm of the left paw that was pinning me until it had no choice but to release its pressure. As soon as it did that, I took the knife again and stabbed it into its left palm again, this time leaving it there. It shouldn’t be able to put pressure on that paw now so long as the knife is stuck—like trying to walk with a splinter in your foot.

As I tried to get back up in my brief window, it immediately batted me out the door, causing me to roll onto the pavement into the moderately heavy rain, leaving scrapes on my arms and legs (however, I did manage to recover my weapons before it took a swing at me). Luckily though, I managed to use the momentum of my last roll so I can get up and recover to prepare myself for the creature’s next move. I’m not even sure if I can even fight this thing in my current mental and physical state, but I don’t have a choice. Like I said the day after Dorado fell, “weakness is no longer an option. Meanwhile strength has officially become a requirement.”

As soon as I got up, the beowolf leapt out from the shadows of the abandoned house and tried to pounce on me, still with the knife lodged in its hand. Once again, seeing the thing rush at me, arms spread and paws waiting to envelop me, my body froze again, as the dream I had a month back flashed before my eyes.

“MOVE, DAMMIT!!!” My mind yelled at the top of its lungs (if it had any) to instill some courage within myself. I immediately snapped back into it and barely got out of the way by dodging to its left. My mind and body are still not up to speed with each other, but are starting to get back on the same page.

It’s fast. But not fast enough due to the knife in its paw slowing it down a bit, giving me a bigger chance to react. I specifically moved to the left side of it since I knew it wouldn’t be able to see me on that side, which (I predict) meant whatever strike it would make would most likely be a backward swipe with its left paw out of pure instinct. 

Just as I predicted, the beowolf took a swipe at me with its left paw and I moved slightly inward toward its tricep area to try and lessen the impact on me as I grabbed on to its arm, which practically caused my body to slightly whip as I was taken off the ground. I then proceeded to reach for the knife in its paw before it tried anything else and, instead of pulling it out, I dug it in deeper, twisting the knife as I did so. The beowolf howled again in pain and flung me to the ground. I ended up landing right in front of it as my body slightly bounced off the solid stone, its shadow enveloping me in darkness and its body serving as an umbrella from the rain as it was about to come down on me again. Despite the pain it caused, I still had an open window and couldn't waste it. I pulled out one of my sais and aimed the gun end to it at the beowolf’s head to finish it, taking me half a second to steady myself due to the pain and nerves of my shaky hand. Just as I pulled the trigger, the thing managed to catch on and barely dodged to the side, causing the bullet to go through the space between its right shoulder and neck causing it to give another pained howl as it retreated a few yards away to regroup.

“Damn!” I thought to myself. “I only have two bullets left.”

I guess I will take this opportunity to regroup as well (mentally that is). From the looks of my situation, staying on its left side would be the ideal thing for me to do right now. But, there is a high chance it will be more wary of that side, so I need to tread with extreme caution. I can’t afford to make another mistake. Luckily though, keeping up with it won’t be as difficult anymore since the knife stuck in its paw will prevent it from putting pressure on that side, slowing it down by a lot and increasing my window of opportunity whenever I get one. But the shot I landed on its right side seems to have done a considerable amount of damage judging from the chunk of “darkness” that’s missing, maybe even slowing that side down too.  
So right now, I have two options: attack the blinded left side and chop it down or attack the wounded right side where it will see me coming. The former makes it easier for me to hit, but might make it take longer due to its likely caution on that side while the latter will get the job done more quickly due to the seriousness of the wound on the other side, but will make it more likely to hit me due to it being able to see me on that side. I don’t know. Levelling the playing field here may have proven to be a double-edged sword now that I look at it. Yes, it is now injured, but now it will be slightly more difficult in terms of anticipating and reading what it’ll do next in how I approach or counter it. But regardless of which side I pick, if I’m going to take another shot at it, it has to be one that I CANNOT POSSIBLY miss, which means I will have to drastically immobilize it. This is going to be a tough battle. My body right now doesn’t have the stamina to last a war of attrition with its left side nor the current physical capabilities to combat its right. My only option seems to be to come up with an alternative option: complete immobilization.

After a few seconds of regrouping, the beowolf then gets into a pouncing position to make another attempt at me. I’m not really too sure which arm it will try to grab me with. There’s even a chance it will just try to clamp its jaws on me and try to end it there. Looks like I’m going to have to make a guess. As it makes its lunge, I dodge to its right side as it, with its jaws wide open, attempts to bite my head off. It wants to end it quickly now. At least it’s slower now. Otherwise, that would have been it for me. 

As I turn toward it to take advantage of the opening, I see that it had twisted itself in mid-air in a sort of corkscrew, counter-clockwise fashion so it could both attack me with the back of its left hand coming down on my head, while guarding its right side at the same time. I didn’t think it was capable of that in its state. I barely move back enough, narrowly avoiding the arm coming down on my head like a heavy club. The beowolf landed right by one of the abandoned homes and I look up to see a wooden platform suspended above it carrying some crates. Maybe I can end this early and beat it the same way I beat the colossus. Placing confidence in my throw, I hurl one of my sais at the rope holding it up, causing the platform and crates to crash down on the creature, presumably killing it. I look into the cloud of dust caused by the platform and crates falling, I see no black mist. I didn’t kill it. Damn!

(Gasp!)

“Wait…!”

I just made a mistake. Assuming that the beowolf didn’t get crushed just now, even though it is still wounded, I just gave it a smokescreen to hide behind and it can now blindside me if I’m not careful. I need to find a wall or some flat, vertical surface and back myself against it that way it can’t sneak up on me. I quickly glance around and see a small slightly higher elevated ledge and back myself against the wall of it to prevent it from sneaking up on me while also sneaking glances over to make sure it wasn’t coming.

A couple seconds later, the area where I was standing briefly went dark as I looked up and saw the silhouette falling from above, accompanied with a growl. I barely get out of the way again, at this point, ignoring all pain in me due to adrenaline, dodging a swipe from one of its right claws as it leaves its marks on the stone ledge that I was just using for cover. I thought about trying to shoot it again with my sais but I only have two shots. It NEEDS to be an impossible to miss shot. I can’t risk wasting another bullet. 

At this point I think I have angered and frustrated the thing by lasting this long because now, at this point, it is only trying to slash me blindly and wildly with its claws, disregarding its own injuries in the process. I dodge a swipe from its left and scurry behind it, but it immediately-- almost instinctively-- turns around and gives me a swipe with its right claws. I duck and, to my surprise, it follows up with a downward strike with its left claws. What?! It doesn’t even care that it still has a knife lodged in its hand anymore!

I jump backward but ended up stumbling due to my body starting to give away from my injuries and exhaustion starting to conquer me. I fell backward but still managed to recover by rolling with it and getting back on my feet. The beowolf tried to take advantage of my split second of vulnerability and tried another lunge at me. Instead of dodging this time, I get my leg up, foot pressed against its torso and grab the thing by its collar bone and fall backward again, using its momentum against it and pushing the thing off with that same foot and sending it over my head (just like I did with dad when we were training, only this time, successfully). After realizing I slightly disoriented it from the move, as it was getting up, I ran up and side rolled over its back and drove the sai into the back of its left leg and through its knee as I made my landing behind it. I almost have it immobilized. But I think I made it even more angry.

It immediately turns around, ignoring the pain (though still slowly succumbing to its injuries), and tries to unleash another flurry of wild and quick swipes at me with its claws at my face and body as if it’s running on fumes at this point. One of those times, it almost slices my stomach open but only ends up grazing the front of my shirt. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up. If this keeps going, I’m not sure I’ll even be able to even stand to defend myself. With every swipe it makes and every dodge I make, both our breathing becomes more and more labored and tired. I’m even having trouble finding an opening on the thing due to the fact I don’t have the time to think. 

After dodging a few more head and body strikes, I then realize it’s only going for my torso and head. Since it’s only swiping for my torso and above and not going below that, I realize that I still have an opening to at least attack its legs. I dodge one of the swipes by leaping backward for space and as it tries to charge me again (ignoring the pain from the wound I put in its knee), I exploit its leg injury and run back toward it and take advantage of the slippery pavement due to the rain and do a sliding sweep and knock it on the ground again. But as it is falling to the ground, I quickly get up and turn to aim my pistol at its head. Unfortunately for me, the beowolf, in a last ditch effort, turned itself mid-fall, and extended its arm and parries and grabs control of my right wrist, pulling me to the ground and making me land on my back with my head bouncing off the solid stone ground, severely stunning me and making me cough up more blood. I had never seen a grimm move like that before. If I had to describe it, it was like a 360 motion mid fall where it grabbed me halfway through and took me to the ground as it completed its rotation.

It then gets on top of me again and opens its jaws, ready to send me to my mother and father. At this point, I was done. I’m exhausted, hurt, coughing up blood, and might have a concussion. I didn’t even have the strength anymore to put up a fight. I just closed my eyes and waited for the beowolf to complete the cycle by killing me.

But just when I thought it was over for me, I feel the beast jerk a bit as it got off of me like it was in some kind of pain. I then begin to hear muffled growls, but not from the beast. I open my eyes and see Bruno, miraculously back up, sinking his teeth into the beowolf’s injured right shoulder/neck area, tearing away at the damaged dark tissue like an excited child ripping up the wrapping paper of a present. The thing lets out another shriek as Bruno desperately tries to attack it, sinking his jaws deeper into its wound. In a desperate attempt, the beowolf managed to fling Bruno off again followed by another, even louder, yelp by my companion.

“B-Bruno!” I struggled to cry out, sounding almost akin to someone gasping for air after taking a gut punch.

The creature tries to come back for me, but Bruno, desperate to keep his family alive, was relentless and charged back at top speed and pounced on the thing again, this time taking it down and managing to damage its right arm to the point that it was practically hanging off by mere threads. Even more angry the creature flung Bruno off again and barely slashing him in the thigh with its dagger claws followed by another yelp by Bruno that was somehow even louder than the last.  
After knocking off Bruno again, I thought the beast would turn to me once more, but it didn’t. The thing seemed to have lost interest in me for the moment just like in the house. It completely ignored me and completely focused its attention on Bruno again. At this point, the beowolf doesn’t want to kill Bruno to keep him out of the way, it wants to kill him for pissing it off even more than it already was. The beowolf, with its exhausted, beaten, heavily damaged body, then slowly limped over to an injured Bruno who was struggling to get back up, whimpering and yelping, as the creature was licking its chops at the mere idea of tearing his helpless, wounded body to ribbons.

I could only helplessly watch as my body was too exhausted and battered to move or even scream.

“Please.” My mind pleaded to my body once again. “I just need a little more energy. Please get up. Move. Do something! Don’t let him die! Don’t let the grimm take him too!”

I can’t let Bruno die. I’ve lost too much. What I fear more than anything, especially more than the grimm, is losing everything I hold dear. For a time, I thought that had already happened in Dorado. When I started this journey to try and get my life back, I thought I had nothing more to lose. I thought the grimm took everything I held dear away from me. But I was wrong. They didn’t take everything from me. I still have Bruno. When I found him on that beach, he gave me hope. He gave me back some of the life I lost, which is now all that I have left of it. I can’t lose him. I can’t let anything or anyone, especially the grimm, take him from me too. And if I don’t do something right here right now, then I will have lost everything. I still remember the following words that my father told me: “If you want to live the life you want, you need to be strong enough to fight for it and defend it, as well as the people you want to live that life alongside, from those who want to take it away from you.” 

And I will do everything in my power to make sure the grimm take nothing and no one else from me!

As a last ditch effort, with my blood now rushing through me, I take one of my sais in my hand and pull my arm back to throw it as that was the only thing I had enough strength left in my body to do. But suddenly (and strangely) as I made the motion to throw my weapon, I felt a split second surge of energy course through me that caused my arm to move so quickly and forcefully, it almost pulled my shoulder out of socket. When I released my grip on the sai, it flew with such tremendous speed that when the weapon hit the beowolf’s leg, instead of lodging itself in, it knocked it clean off as if it’s body were made of paper. The creature then fell to the ground with a heavy thud, not yet fully aware of what just happened.  
It probably went through its leg so quickly, that the pain didn’t even set in until it hit the ground as it made a loud yelp as its black mass hit the pavement, now with only one leg.

I slowly pick my somewhat limp body up and start to hobble toward the downed beowolf. The creature then started slowly turning to me with its only intact arm while also desperately and weakly trying to get back up, yelping and whimpering with every desperate attempt. I didn’t even know a grimm knew how to whimper. Is it whimpering because of the pain? Or is it whimpering because it’s afraid? Perhaps both?

As I finally reach the monster, standing only a few feet away, it reaches out and weakly wraps its torn up paw around my ankle. (It didn’t wrap its good paw around my ankle because it still had my mom’s knife lodged in its palm.) After everything, it still wants to try to kill me— even when I stand above it. In what appeared to be a final act of defiance, the creature opened its massive jaws and bared its fangs as it looked up at me. I couldn’t tell if it meant to devour me or if it just wanted to strike me with fear to get the last laugh.

Instead, I just willingly sat down in front of it, legs crossed and looked my mother’s killer dead in the eyes, my face only a mere foot away from its own. With a calm face, I simply shook my head "no", silently telling it that I wasn't afraid of it anymore.

With its weak grasp still wrapped around my ankle, I get back up and stomped my mother’s knife through the beowolf’s left hand, pinning it to the ground. It lets out another howl of pain and I take one of my sais and stab it through its bottom jaw, pinning its head to the ground in the process as well with the gun end facing up and the barrel pressed against the roof of its mouth. Because of that, it couldn’t close its mouth anymore. The beowolf still had its paw on my ankle and I just casually kicked it off, as if it were nothing more than a stone in my path. The only noise the creature could make now was not the roars and growls that used to strike me with fear nor the yelps and whimpers it was just making. It was just tired, labored breathing. I sit back down and reach over and, looking it in the eyes one more time, I place my hand inside its maw and place my hand on my weapon with my finger resting on the trigger. With just a little bit of pressure, I pull it.

[BANG!]

One bullet left.

For a very brief second, my body was engulfed in the black mist of the evaporating corpse of the beowolf before it dissipated around me and vanished.

I didn’t feel the surge of emotions start crashing into me just yet, even after what just happened. I couldn’t even find the strength to even express any emotion. All I felt was the rain hitting my throbbing head, pain all over my body (especially in my ribs), and tears starting to flow down my emotionless face. I then pick up my weapons and knife and put them away before getting up and limping toward Bruno, who was still whimpering and trying to get up.

“It’s okay, buddy. It’s all over now. Just take it easy alright?” I say as I kneel down and gently pet Bruno, letting him everything was alright and settling him down. I’m going to have to find a way to take care of his gash from when it scratched him. Maybe there’s an abandoned pharmacy here. Hopefully, I can find some bandages and some medical supplies. For now, I take Bruno’s scarlet bandana and press and hold it on the wound to stop the bleeding and tie it around his leg. Bruno didn’t take too kindly to this and let out a loud, sharp yelp and continued to whimper even more intensely. If it were anyone else doing this, he most likely would have bitten them.

“Easy Bruno. I know it hurts, but you’ll have to bear with me here, alright? Just bear with me, okay? Just please bear with me! Please bear with--” I say repeatedly, each time my voice breaking more and more as the wave of emotions started to finally overcome me like a tsunami as I let out labored wails of emotion through my pained ribs as I held him close and tightly (but not too tightly).

The only thing I have left of my old life is Bruno. And that is as close as I will ever get. He is the one thing holding me together.

On this day, my dreams of getting my life back were shattered… but I have Bruno here to hold the pieces together like a mosaic, allowing me to have the courage to keep searching for and see a brighter tomorrow.

That is… if there is one.

*CHAPTER END*

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Grimm Profiles: #2: The Slit-Mouth:

(inspiration: Japanese urban legend, The Kuchisake-onna)

The Slit-Mouth is a humanoid type grimm that resembles a frail woman with long black hair at first glance. It is also the smallest of the humanoid type grimm as it's height is usually around a minimum of 4 ft (1.2 meters) to a maximum of 5 ft (1.5 meters). They also have barbed, thorny hair and a mask-like bone structure on the lower half of their face that many say resembles a surgical mask, which is meant to protect their head during combat. As for protection below the neck, it does not have much armor, but people mainly say that the bits of armor it does have around its body make it look like it is wearing parts of a human skeleton. The only places on its body where it has no armor at all are the femoral regions of its legs and its arms (specifically between the shoulders and elbows), which are popular exploitable strike points when huntsmen and huntresses encounter them. Because of its physical vulnerabilities, instead of hands, the Slit-Mouth has two bladed appendages below its elbows that resemble one half of a pair of scissors that they can be utilized for fighting. The Slit-Mouth is said to have moderately fast strikes and that their scissor like appendages are sharp enough to cleanly cut through flesh and bone in a single swipe. They also sometimes use them to cut up their prey (while they are alive) if its too big for them to swallow.

Back to the topic of strike points, another popular strike point is the space where its jaw meets the top half of its head. However, the only way to hit this spot is if the Slit-Mouth reveals the lower half of its face, leaving its head vulnerable to strike.  
When it comes to durability, the Slit-Mouth is one of the least durable grimm, which makes them very easy to kill. Because of this, they tend to avoid combat unless they absolutely have to and mainly rely on capturing prey via their passive ability: petrification. If you look into the face of a Slit-Mouth, your body will instantly freeze as a massive wave of dread overcomes you and renders you completely motionless. During this time, the Slit-Mouth takes advantage and eats their prey by opening the bone-like structure around their lower face, revealing a massive jaw that can unhinge to swallow people whole. This is also how they got their name, "slit-mouth". When they reveal their massive maw, some say it almost looks like someone had slit their mouth by cutting a line through their cheek from the corners of its mouth to its ears.

Another thing to note about the Slit-Mouth's petrification ability is that the only way to break the state of petrification is to flash natural light in the eyes of the person affected (i.e. a flickering flame, flash of lightning, sunlight reflecting off a surface, etc.) Also if you ever happen to miraculously survive an encounter with a Slit-Mouth after being petrified, it is imperative that you vacate the area as quickly as possible. When a Slit-Mouth petrifies you and instills that wave of dread in you, not only does it basically paralyze you with fear, it also essentially turns you into a beacon for grimm (due to grimm being attracted by negativity) and will attract them to your exact location.

Slit-Mouths are mainly found on the continent of Anima and like to hang around abandoned civilizations such as abandoned villages, districts, kingdom outskirts, etc. In a very rare case, there was one found roaming the shadows of the slums of Mistral. There was once a time in the Mistral slums where a lot of missing persons cases were arising after many people suddenly went missing without a trace as well as a grimm attack taking place every time a missing persons report came up. When a huntsman named Shiro Wan was assigned to find out what was going on, he noted that at every scene where the person was reported to have gone missing, there was no sign of a struggle. He also picked up a trend: every scene was either in or near an alleyway or behind a building. Because of this, Shiro would spend days staking out the Mistral slums and would eventually find the cause of the disappearances when he found a Slit-Mouth roaming near in an alleyway behind a pub  
where he swiftly put an end to its spree.

Overall the, Slit-Mouth is a tricky grimm to come across if you don't know how to deal with it. If you look in its face, it will take a lot of luck if you want to survive. But however, due to their substantial lack of durability, they are not much of a problem in a fight, especially if you have ranged weapons. It doesn't take much to kill a Slit-Mouth and you can even kill one with a mere pocket knife if you are daring enough. In short, if you run into a Slit-Mouth, don't look at its face. If you can avoid looking at its face, defeating it should be a fairly simple and easy task.

Danger Level: C

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Hey everyone!

Sorry to keep you for so long. But you are in the home stretch of this page so I hope you'll stay around for this last part. Or you could just skip to the end for fun fact #7 if I'm going on too long. I understand I can be a bit of a windbag.  
So funny story, instead of the beowolf, the Slit-Mouth was originally going to be the one to have the big fight scene with Simin. But I ended up swapping it for the beowolf at the last second when I was revising because I felt it narratively made more sense since it was the beowolf that killed Simin's mother and gave him his ptsd. Because of that, I was pretty much at a crossroads because I had already written the fight scene for the Slit-Mouth and I didn't want to scrap the Slit-Mouth because it was a grimm that I was very much looking forward to using. Because of that, I tried to give myself the best of both worlds by creating the Slit-Mouth's petrification effect so that I could be able to use both the Slit-Mouth and the beowolf and Simin could have his scene with the Slit-Mouth and move on to fight the beowolf after.

Anyway, the Slit-Mouth scene was slightly different than the one you read. Originally (after swapping it out for the beowolf) everything with the Slit-Mouth up to the part where it walks up to Simin was the same. After that, Bruno was supposed to come in and tackle the thing and then Simin just gets down and stabs and kills it. When I looked back at it, I was like, "Nah! That's lame!" So I cut that part out, extended the scene, and gave it a mini fight scene, all resulting into what then became the final product of what you actually read here in regards to the Slit-Mouth. Overall, I think it was definitely better than it just being taken down by a malnourished dog and taking a single stab to the chest by a pocketknife. I actually had a bit of fun redoing that scene because it's probably one of my top 10 (maybe even top 5) favorite grimm that I've created.

Also, we are almost done with Act 2 of Volume I. I wanted this chapter to feel very bittersweet with Simin reaching his destination, but failing to achieve his goal while also confronting the creature that killed his mother and killing it. Also very soon, we will be getting some more characters. Some old ("old" as in canon), some new ("new" as in a few OC's I made). Some minor, some major. I think you'll like them and what I do with them... or at least I hope, considering I haven't written that many character interactions in this volume since Simin was a silent protagonist in Act 1 and has pretty much been alone with a dog for almost all of Act 2. I actually tried avoiding writing character interactions in the first two acts because I wasn't so confident with it, which is why Act 3 is going to have a lot of. character interaction and dialogue since I needed to work on it and get comfortable with it. Overall I think I've gotten more comfortable.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You are probably wondering about the whole "surge of energy" thing where Simin gets this sudden burst of energy and throws his weapon and takes off the beowolf's leg. Yeah, even though Simin does not have a semblance in the SLVR trailers, I'm going to give him one. But don't worry. There is a method to my madness. It is all part of the process. If you want to know more as to why, just ask and I will tell you. But I have to warn you, my reasons are very, very spoilery in regards to how far I've planned ahead.

Oh! And one more thing, I normally I don't do this, but because of the nature of the next chapter, I think it's fair that I warn you that Chapter 8 is going to be very graphic in terms of violence. Probably more violently graphic than chapter 4 and we all know that one was a bloodbath. Anyway, without further ado, here's fun fact number 7:

Fun Fact #7: The closing words at the end of this chapter are pretty much (although heavily paraphrased) a straight up reference to the opening words in Mark Zhang's first SLVR Trailer.


	8. Volume I: Chapter VIII: "...And Then I Snapped.":

*WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE* (no seriously. This will probably be the most graphic chapter in this entire series.) 

"You ready, Bruno?" I ask with a bit of eagerness in my voice as we prepare to head out to our next destination. Bruno responds with a resounding bark that I assumed meant "yes" given the enthusiasm he put in it. I then check myself to make sure I have everything I need on me before I set off: sais? Check! Mom's knife? Check! Bruno (even though I'm literally looking right at him)? Check!

"Alright then! Let's get going!"

Before we head out, I take one last look at the empty, abandoned streets of the once promising Oniyuri before turning and leave them behind, with Bruno right by my side. It's saddening to see that this village will just end up rotting into a dilapidated ghost town. But perhaps, without me realizing it, Oniyuri wasn't my actual destination, but rather a "checkpoint" of sorts to my true destination. I will clarify what I mean by that in a bit, but for now I will say that recently, I found something in Oniyuri that restored a bit of hope in me.

As for right now, it is now mid-September (the 15th to be exact). After the fight with the beowolf, I decided that it would be best for Bruno and I to stay in Oniyuri for a couple weeks and rest so that we could heal a bit from the injuries we sustained during our encounter with the beowolf. My ribs were still hurting a lot though-- especially whenever I took a breath-- due to the damage I took. That beowolf definitely did some extra damage to my already damaged ribs from my fight with the colossus. I hope they're not broken.

For the past couple weeks, I've been practicing my breathing while making my breaths gradually get deeper and longer each day as well as rehearsing certain movements and stretches to try and help my recovery as a sort of rehabilitation. To an extent I would say it helped. I also found some bandages and some disinfectant medical supplies left behind in a small pharmacy in the village that I used to treat my wounds and my ribs, as well as Bruno's gash, which is now wrapped in a bandage and no longer his now bloody bandana, which now sits in its rightful place around his neck.

Another thing I would like to bring up is that my nightmares have significantly lessened since Oniyuri. I wouldn't say they're gone, but they are very rare now. I don't know why though. Maybe it has to do with Bruno? Or maybe it has to do with me killing the beowolf? Or maybe it's both? Either way, they've seem to have subsided for now... and hopefully forever.

Now back to that thing I brought up earlier. A few days ago, when I was looking around the abandoned Oniyuri to find some sort of clue as to where the residents may have disappeared to, I found a note in one of the main buildings that said the following:

"If you have come here expecting a proud village flourishing with people, then I am afraid that you will not find any signs of that here, as I am sure you have seen when you walked in. We have recently heard news of a large horde of grimm that had sacked a village named Dorado that was not too from our location. We were at first very skeptical of these warnings until the deliverer of said news proved to us the validity of said claims. Because of this sudden and tragic development, we had no choice but to evacuate the village to avoid the possible oncoming horde in order to avoid attracting them to our location. We had not even established our comm lines yet, which meant calling support from a huntsman would have been an impossibility. We had also discussed the possibility of fortifying the village to defend the village ourselves, but we simply lacked the proper resources to do so. After much consideration, we all concluded that it would be too much of a risk to stay where we are. There was a man who was aiding us in the construction of Oniyuri who was with us when the news hit . He hails from another village named Kuroyuri. I have been speaking with him and he (along with a team) agreed to aid us in relocating to their village.

"Though I am grateful the wellbeing of the residents of what would have been Oniyuri has been preserved, I cannot help but be heavily saddened and filled with much disappointment. It appears Oniyuri was finished before it even started. If we are to make it to Kuroyuri before the potential horde, we need to move quickly and efficiently. Hopefully, the evacuation of Oniyuri will be for the better. It was a childish dream to think this would become its own kingdom one day. It is now nothing more than the corpse of a dream. Oniyuri will not be remembered as a dream made into reality, but as a final resting place-- a tomb-- of what could have been."

The letter pretty much ended there. Unfortunately, it didn't say who signed it. It also made me wonder how they were able to get the news. When Dorado was destroyed, as far as I know, I was the only survivor. So it made me wonder who they could have gotten the news from. Anyway, after finding that note, I did some more digging and I did manage to find a small note that was stuck to a tree near the exit gates a couple days ago when Bruno and I were scouting the perimeter. It read the following:

"If you came expecting to see Oniyuri, I regret to tell you that the residents were forced to evacuate due to an attack on another nearby village by a large horde of grimm, as that is the news I have been told. I am currently aiding in their final steps of relocation to my home village named Kuroyuri as it is the nearest village to Oniyuri. If you wish to find us, there is a map on the back that highlights the trail you will need to take. You should be able to arrive within a few days so long as you don't stray. Safe travels, stranger." 

-Li Ren

Finding this note managed to rekindle a little bit of my hopes that maybe not everything was lost just yet. This is essentially my last resort-- our last resort. We just need to keep on pushing. Just a little more and we'll finally have our lives back. I just need to follow this map and also find this Li Ren guy who signed this since he is the only one whose identity I even remotely know. All I need to do is follow this map and I should be there in a few days.

* * *

I think it's time we call it a day here. Bruno and I have been walking for pretty much the entire day—a pretty uneventful day I might add. Don't get me wrong. I'm honestly relieved that we are now walking on a road, but nothing really happens here. But I can't complain though. It's just that given everything that's happened lately, I guess I'm just not used to not having to fight for my life in some way, shape, or form on a regular basis. It still definitely beats almost dying... or actually dying. I take a look behind me as the sun was starting to set as it slowly descended behind the trees, giving the sky a fiery pinkish look as if it had been ignited. Just the sight of it makes me feel warm despite the weather feeling slightly cool. Is that weird?  
Anyway, I'm surprised my body is holding up this well, as well as Bruno's leg. Yeah my breathing is still a bit labored and my ribs still hurt, but nowhere near as much as they did a couple weeks ago. Bruno also seems to be walking a bit better. He still has a bit of a limp though, but that's about it. That beowolf threw him pretty hard, but we made it pay. No one—and I mean no one—harms Bruno and gets away with it, let alone lives long enough to regret it. We'll get his leg looked at once we reach Kuroyuri in a few days and then hopefully it'll be all get better from there. I've also noticed he's gotten a little bit of his frame back. He still looks skinnier than his normal self, but he's certainly no longer that bag of bones I encountered on that beach. It makes me happy to see him getting better.

My thoughts were then interrupted when I started hearing a high-pitched buzzing really close to my ear. I turn and see a mosquito flying close and trying to land on me to drink from my body like the parasite it is. As I raise my hand to take a swipe at it, a small, black, winged figure swoops by and intercepts the thing in midair, catching me by surprise, but not in a "Woah!" kind of surprise, but more like a "Did that just happen?" kind of surprise. That bat really came out of nowhere. It made me think back to the first time I saw a bat. I think I was 3 or 4 at the time. I called it a "bird-mouse" and my mom and dad chuckled, amused at the name I had given the nocturnal dweller. Even I chuckle a bit when I think back to that. A small, minor memory, but more than enough to bring a smile to my face.

I look up at the sky and notice it is quickly being occupied by the stars and the moon as it begins to get darker and darker outside. I think it's time for us to camp for the night. We step off the trail a bit and head into the woods (but not far—just enough to be able to see the road). The reason why we do this is because even though I like walking on roads, sleeping on them is a different story. I prefer to sleep on soft soil and grass over the hard, cold, stone.  
I do my usual nightly routine and gather some sticks, stones, and dead leaves (which weren't too hard for me to find due to the Fall quickly starting to set in). It's noticeably gotten a lot colder out here. Even in the warm glow of the fire, I can start to see my own breath and feel a slight chill in the air. I really hope I'll be able to reach Kuroyuri soon before I (though I doubt it) end up freezing to death out here. Anyway, I prepare Bruno's food that we caught earlier today and set it down for him and then do the same for myself.

Before digging into my food, I open the cartridge in the gun part of my sai and stare at the lone bullet sitting in the chamber. 

"One bullet huh?..." I thought to myself. "What situation (whatever kind that may be) will I use this lonesome bullet? One thing is for sure, if that situation does come, I'll make it count. I won't let it go to waste. Whatever I fire this bullet at, it will hit its mark."

I then close up the cartridge and put my weapon away and start eating my food before it gets cold. I hate cold food. Specifically cold food that's meant to be served warm. I get that from my mom. My dad likes cold food and my mom and I always thought he was weird for it.

Anyway, in time, Bruno and I finish our food and I put the fire out before we go to sleep. I rest my back against a nearby tree and Bruno walks up to me and lays his head on my lap. A slight breeze begins to rush through the woods, filling it with the sounds of rustling leaves and causing me to shiver a bit due to the cold that accompanied it. Bruno seemed to take notice of my bodily reaction and proceed to get up and rest his entire body on my lap, leaning onto my torso and arms as if he were some kind lap-dog (while being careful not to irritate my ribs). This is the first time Bruno has ever done this. I assume this is his attempt at making me feel warm. What would I do without you, Bruno?

"Goodnight, Bruno." I say as I wrap my arms around his warm body, taking in the warmth of his soft fur coat. He's so lucky he doesn't have to worry about the cold due to his pelt. Meanwhile, I shiver at even the slightest breeze. I envy him   
sometimes. I then hold Bruno a bit closer to my body as I close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

I suddenly open my eyes in response to the sound of rustling nearby. As I opened my eyes, I could see that it was also much brighter too-- so bright, you could see the sun's rays shining through the leaves as if they were nothing but a screen. Expecting to get into a battle, I quickly look to my right to see what might be coming at me and I see a pair of antlers sitting atop the head of a fairly sized stag before it disappears behind a large bush and darts off into the wilderness. Everything appears pretty normal, but it doesn't feel normal (if that makes any sense). Maybe it's because the brightness is just so disorienting. I look to my left and see that Bruno was still sleeping (no longer on my lap), so I decided to leave him be for a bit and hunt down this stag for us to eat. So long as I follow it's tracks, I should be able to use them to make my way back.

I track the thing down for a few minutes by following its prints to a mildly dense, hilly area. But it wasn't long until the tracks started to lose their visibility, which meant I had to be more careful not to lose my way. Because of this, I decided to adapt to a more sentry role by resting myself on top of a small piece of rock that was jutting out from the base of a hill. As I look around and patiently wait for my prey to reemerge, I eventually see the stag, slowly walk out into the open as I quickly get down so it doesn't notice me. It slowly makes its way over to where I'm hiding and I posture myself so I can pounce on the thing and sink my weapons into the nape of its neck and hopefully quickly kill it. As I am about to pounce a rock falls off where I am and hits the ground, startling the stag as it started to take off.

"DAMMIT!"

If this thing gets away, it's gone for good. There's no way I can catch up to it and I don't want to have to go too far, so I'm going to have to kill it now. I guess that means I'm going to have to use my final bullet. I quickly leap off the rock and pull out my weapon as the stag was running away. I then raise my weapon and look down the sights as I aim toward the head of the fleeing mammal, hoping to get an instant kill. Here goes nothing!  
I steady my breath and focus my sight as I grip the weapon and begin to curl my finger around the trigger. Just one bullet. I add a little of pressure and--

* * *

[BANG!]

"Huh?!" I am suddenly jolted awake by a loud bang that echoed and traveled throughout the woods. I look around and I see that I am still in the same spot I was last night, still leaning on the tree. 

"So that was a dream then." I thought to myself.

I wonder what that bang that woke me up was. I then quickly pull out my weapon to check and see it didn't discharge and fire on its own. The barrel isn't smoking, so that's a good sign. But I should still check more thoroughly just to be safe. I open the cartridge and am once again greeted by the sight of the lone bullet sitting there in its chamber, patiently waiting to be fired.

As I was checking my weapon, it had just dawned on me that I was missing something—something very important. Where's Bruno? I quickly jumped to my feet and turned my head frantically as a slight breeze blew by, causing all the leaves to rustle in unison as it gave me a chill while I wondered where my companion went. Since we've been out here, Bruno usually gets up late at night or early in the morning to relieve himself behind a tree or a large rock or a bush or something. But the coldness on my body tells me that he's been gone longer than he normally would. Something's not right. I need to go look for him.

"Bruno? Bruno? Where are you?" I say as I look around for Bruno, sometimes letting out a whistle to hopefully attract him.

I then notice some pawprints on the soil. They're fresh. They couldn't have been made too long ago. I would say they were left about 5-10 minutes ago. I also see that there is another smaller pair of pawprints mixed in as well. Upon closer inspection, I could see they were rabbit prints. I guess Bruno saw a rabbit and chased it so he could bring it back so we could eat something, which means he definitely wasn't taken by anything or attacked.

(Sigh.)

Oh, Bruno. Why do you have to worry me like this and put me through this stress? I walk deeper into the woods, following the tracks and call out a little louder so I could find him.

"Bruno?! Where did you go?!" I struggle to shout as I let out another whistle. Leaning on that tree was not very good for my ribs. It makes it a bit uncomfortable to yell.

A few minutes of walking passed until I began to hear something in the distance. They were voices—too faint for me to make out. It's been so long since I've come into contact with another person. I wonder who they are. Maybe they can help me find Bruno (assuming they even saw him)? I can't really tell what the voices are saying, but I can tell that it sounds like they are having a conversation of sorts. I can't make out the tone of the conversation but it sounds like it's somewhere between 3-7 people-- don't know exactly how many yet though. I walk a bit closer and I could now make them out a bit better. There are about 6 voices about 30 feet (9.1 meters) away. Now that I'm a bit closer, the tone sounds like they are mad or annoyed at someone (perhaps one of their own?). I probably should proceed with caution and observe a bit before deciding what to do exactly. As I got closer, I could hear their conversation more easily:

"You are such a dumbass, you know that?" A low, rough, authoritative male voice says with an irritated tone.

"Oh fuck you! If you got startled and had a gun in your hand what would be your initial reaction?!" Another, slightly higher, male voice (probably belonging to someone about 18-20 years old from the sounds of it).

"Oh, I don't know. How about turn my head and make sure whatever it is isn't trying to kill us so I don't end up WASTING A FUCKING BULLET!" The first voice responded in a mocking way. "And because of your dumb ass, that is exactly what you didn't do and you wasted a bullet! I was made leader of this expedition for a reason and I can't have you wasting ammo like that! For everything we do, whether it's a bullet fired or a person killed, I am responsible for it all."

Man, whoever their leader is, they are a real stickler when it comes to conserving ammunition. And I thought I was bad.

"Well maybe we can take it with us." Another voice-- a female voice-- interjects, trying to break the tension between the first two.

"Take it with us?! Are you fucking with me right now?!" The leader replies. "Just look at it! It's worthless. Not even the buzzards would waste their time with it."

"Hey!" A fourth (also female) voice chimes in, sounding about as old as the owner of the voice who was just being grilled. "We're a hunting party aren't we? We hunt for food so we can all ensure our survival and feed everyone back home. We were very close to coming back empty-handed, but lo and behold, here comes our saving grace just waltzing into the open and by pulling the trigger, he just saved our asses from heading back empty-handed."

"Hunting party?" I thought to myself.

Are these people from Kuroyuri? Maybe this is a hunting party heading back to the village. I should go out and talk to them. They can help me find Bruno and help bring us to their village. I can't believe we're actually about to make it! I didn't think we would be this close. I guess this is just our luck then. Although, to my surprise, they are a bit... vulgar-- especially for a village hunting party in terms of how they speak.

"Thank you, sis." The 18-20 year old voice responded. So that's his sister then.

"So, what? Does that make him a... uh-- what do you call it? An idiot savant?" The leader says.

"Again: fuck... you." The brother's voice responds.

As I get closer, I can see through the tree line, huddled together in a small clearing, 6 people: 4 men and 2 women. I get a good look at them and I immediately get a strange feeling about them. They don't look like they're from a village just from how they're dressed, which makes them appear a bit dirty and ragged and caused a little bit of a voice in my head to tell me not step out in the open just yet. I decide to hide behind a tree and observe them some more before I decide to "jump the gun" and walk over to them.

Some of them had pants that were torn up to the knee and their shirts and jackets looked a bit ragged as well with some of them even missing sleeves (which I couldn't tell was either a style or because their sleeves got torn off in some kind of encounter or if it was just the best they had). The leader of the small group was a tall, pale man with short brown hair and pale skin with a scar on his cheek. There was another guy with a blue rag hanging from his pocket (which I assume was used to wipe sweat off his head), who was completely bald and tan-skinned. He also had a bit of a goatee hanging from his chin that looked to be graying a bit. Next to him was a woman with brown eyes and brown hair tied into a ponytail. If it were let down, her hair would probably drop down to her shoulder blades. She looked to be around 18-20 years old. There was another man who looked about as old as the woman, who also had brown eyes and long brown hair let down to just above his shoulders. I assume those two are the siblings I was hearing. There was also a dark-skinned man with short, curly hair, wearing a dark blue jacket without sleeves. He also had on his face a full beard and by far had the most facial hair out of everyone there. And lastly, another woman, with short, blondish hair wrapped into a bun. She also had slightly lighter skin than the guy with the blue rag and the goatee. 

After getting a good look at them, they definitely don't look like the type you'd see come from a village or even a kingdom.

"Well assuming we take this..." The guy with the blue rag joins in. "Do you even think this will be enough? I mean look at it!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." The woman with the blonde bun responds.

"It'll have to be." Said the man with the beard. "Look, it's either that or nothing. And I don't think she would be very pleased if we return with nothing. So I opt that we take this back and we could just divide and combine it with the rations we have left over. And besides..." He continues. "We've encountered nothing but grimm throughout this entire thing and have been relying on her to save our asses every time. If this is the best thing to come out of this, then by all means, let's take what we can get. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like you make a good point." Said the man with the blue rag. "That reminds me: where is she anyway?"

"She said she was going to scout ahead a bit and check to see if there was any more grimm on our way back." Answered the woman with the bun.

"And how long ago was that?" Asked the female twin.

"I don't know. 15-20 minutes?" She answered back.

"Damn! What could be taking her so long?" Yelled the leader.

"Hey! Show some respect!" Snapped the guy with the beard, elbowing him in the gut while doing so and slightly winding him. "Maybe she just encountered some and is clearing a path for us."

"Right. Sorry. My bad... Bootlicker." The leader muttered.

"What was that?!" The bearded man responded.

"Hey, guys?" Interrupted the male twin. "I'm gonna go shoot it again."

"What did I just tell you about ammo?!" Snapped the leader.

"Look." The twin responded as he pointed to the ground in the middle of their huddle.

"Oh... oh shit." The leader said immediately, changing his tone to a slightly somber one. "Yeah, I'll make an exception this time. Put it down. -- especially if we're actually gonna take this thing back with us."

"Sure thing." The twin says before pointing the barrel of his gun to the ground in the center of them and pulling the trigger.

[BANG!]

Was that the bang that woke me up earlier?

"So anyway..." Says the man with the blue rag. "Before we make our decision final, I think what's best now is to see if she thinks this is good enough to take."

"Alright." Says the leader, readopting his authoritative voice. "The three of us will go ahead and call her over here and she'll give us her final verdict? Sound good?....Okay then. You three will wait here and the twins will come with me."

With that, the man with the blue rag, the woman with her hair in a bun, and bearded man all stayed behind while the leader, and the twins went ahead. As half of the group started to disperse I could now see what it was they were huddled around. As I leaned my head closer and squinted my eyes a bit, I could see that it was...--

(Gasp!)

I then quickly hid the rest of myself completely behind the tree, crouched down with my back pressed against it, hoping they didn't hear me or catch a glimpse of me. I then use my hands covering my mouth to prevent them from possibly hearing my breathing. 

"No. It can't be! That had to have been my imagination. Right? I probably just haven't fully woken up yet and imagined that." I thought to myself as my heart immediately started racing at the thought of what I might have seen being another horrible reality.

I don't want to, but I need to take another look just to confirm that I just imagined that. Making sure they don't see me, I carefully peek my head past the tree and look again. And just like in Dorado, I could only instead confirm the worst as my heart began to plummet into a deep, dark abyss. There, in the middle of those three people, was Bruno's lifeless body with two bullet holes-- one in the body and another in the center of his head. 

This can't be happening! W-we were supposed to be together. We were supposed to take care of each other. We were supposed to make it to Kuroyuri together and get our lives back. This can't be happening! Not again, not again, not again!   
How many more people am I going to lose?! How much more will I lose?! How much more will this world take from me?! This world just keeps taking and taking and taking and I've just about had it! 

I just looked at Bruno's corpse with a thousand yard stare as not a wave of grief, anguish, or sadness came over me like in Dorado, but a whirlwind of anger, frustration, and pure, unadulterated rage. Bruno was the one thing holding me together-- the last thing that prevented me from tipping-- and they took him away from me. I don't know who they are or where they're from. But right now, I don't fucking care! They killed Bruno! Those bastards killed my best friend! They killed my family! They took the last thing I had left in this world from me! And now they are going to pay!

And just like that, the camel's back has been broken-- no, shattered into millions of pieces. The mosaic is now gone as all the pieces are now scattered everywhere with nothing left to hold them together, making me no longer able to see the brighter future I had so desperately hoped for. Eventually I couldn't even hold myself back anymore as my mind and body willingly submitted to the raging whirlwind, giving it full control. Before whatever was left of me "disappeared", I could only utter 5 more words before allowing the whirlwind to take control.

"I'm going to kill them."

Mom, dad, Bruno, if you're still looking, now would be a good time to stop. 

And then... I snapped.

I finally snapped.

* * *

Without even thinking or uttering a sound, I charge at top speed out from behind the tree in a blind rage, holding my mother's knife in my left hand. The way the three bandits that stayed behind were standing was in a bit of a triangle formation. The one to my right (and the closest one to me) was the woman her hair tied in a bun. Just beyond her by a few feet and to my left was the man with the blue rag and just beyond him was the guy with the beard. I was running so fast, they didn't even notice me nor did it fully process in their heads the situation they were about to be put into until it was already too late. As I quickly closed my distance, before they could react in the final split-second that the three could notice me and do anything about, it I tossed one of my sais in the air above the trio in a way that when it would come back down, it would fall in front of the guy with the full beard. The reason why I tossed the sai in the air was because it would serve as a very brief distraction for me to pull off what I am about to do. As the sai flew in the air and briefly caught the attention of the trio, I also quickly pull the gun out of the holster from the lady who had her back turned before immediately planting my foot on her leg and bouncing off of it. As I bounced off her leg, I leapt upward toward the man with the blue rag and held my mother's knife against his throat and wrapped my right arm, gun in hand, around the back his neck and aimed it toward the woman with the hair bun. While my body was still airborne, without any hesitation, I pulled the trigger of the gun I just took, causing the following three things to happen simultaneously:

1\. Upon pulling the trigger, the bullet went straight through the woman's head instantly killing her before she had any time to even move.

2\. Due to the (surprisingly) strong recoil of the gun, it caused my body to turn almost as if on an axis, causing the knife to slit the throat of the guy with the blue rag.

3\. Lastly, the recoil of the gun combined with how my arms were wrapped around the neck of the guy who got his throat slit, his neck basically served as an axis and caused my body to whip around and catch the sai with the back of my foot that I   
had tossed less than a second prior as it was coming back down, kicking the spiked end straight into the bearded man's chest (as well as through his hand since he was the only one who had any time at all (though not enough) to react). The sai ended up piercing his heart and killed him too. He was the only one to even get a word out as he barely managed to let out a startled "SHIT!" before I had pulled the trigger that ended the three of them in fell swoop.

Though it seems like these people had the world's slowest reaction time and absolutely no reflexes, it was actually because this all happened way faster than they could have possibly anticipated. By the time they even noticed me, the rest unfolded in just a single second. In just 1 second, I killed half of them with one move.

The sound of the gunshot definitely got the attention of the leader and the twins as they both sharply turned around in unison, shocked and confused as to what just happened and how fast it happened. I can understand their confusion though. They literally turned around for a few seconds and walked a good amount of yards before suddenly turning back around only to see that the three people they had just left are now all dead.

"W-what the fuck!?!" The leader shouted, shocked at the fact that three of his own were just killed in the matter of a second while his back was turned.

As they all stood there motionless, still in shock at the events that had just unfolded, I look over behind the leader and see the one who shot Bruno, the male twin. Just the sight of the still smoking barrel of his gun made me even more angry. I'm going to save him for last. I then drop the gun I had just used, opting to not use it again since the recoil was a bit too much for me to handle. I then pulled my sai out of the bearded man's chest, planting my foot on his corpse to do so. The female twin, the only one with enough sense (or not shocked enough) to react, pulls out a gun of her own, a nervous expression written all over her face.

I then looked back down at Bruno's lifeless corpse.

"This is for you, Bruno!"

"Stay the fuck away! I'll shoot, you hear me?!" She shouts with a bit of a quiver in her voice as she attempts to put on an aggressive front. I could see the gun shaking in her hand from here.

I was so driven by the whirlwind inside me, I completely ignored her words as they fell upon deaf ears as I took a step forward and charged again. As I rush toward the second trio, she fires two shots at me, one bullet whizzing right by my head and the other just grazing my right shoulder. The pain made me wince a bit and grit my teeth, but I ignored it as I was too livid to let it faze me, determined to avenge my fallen companion. As soon as I got close enough to her to be at point blank range (which only took about a couple seconds), I immediately bring up my hand and knocked her wrist upward, causing her to barely miss her third shot, which would have hit me in between the eyes and killed me if I hadn't done so).

I then stepped on her leg and, using it as a boost, jumped and swiftly kneed her in the chin with my right knee before she could do anything else, stunning her in the process. Before I landed, I threw one of my sais at the leader (who was about 10 feet (3 meters) to her left) as he turned to come at me. The sai went through his foot and ended up pinning him in place as he screamed from the pain. Once I landed, I noticed the male twin had already pulled out his gun and was pointing his still smoking barrel at me. 

With less than a second to spare, I barely dodge the bullet by moving toward the leader so I could use him as a shield, who was currently trying to dislodge the sai from his foot and unpin himself. He noticed me coming toward him and he hastily struggled to get to his feet, clearly unsteady from his wound, and pulled out his knife. He attempts to slash my throat or face (Or at least I think he was. I couldn't tell where he was aiming exactly. In all honesty, it was a pretty wild slash). I respond by leaning back as I drop kick the sai in his foot on my way down, bringing him down to a knee as I rolled behind him, putting him between me and the male twin. Literally the second I had done so and brought him to a knee, the male twin had pulled the trigger again, attempting to shoot me like he shot Bruno. But instead, the bullet (that was meant for me) went straight through the leader's temple and out the other side, instantly killing him as he fell in the way. But unfortunately for me, as my mind was clouded by my unyielding rage, I didn't take into account the bullet going all the way through the leader's skull and I paid dearly for it as it hit me through my left side, wounding me-- but not mortally... or at least I hope.  
Because of that, I lost all my momentum and couldn't capitalize as a red wet spot began to form and grow around the area I was shot, allowing the female twin to recover. In an instant, I went from putting their backs against the ropes to now being severely injured and stuck in a 2 vs 1 situation. 

"You okay, sis?" The male twin asks his sibling. She responds with a nod of reassurance despite having a clearly broken nose, blood pouring out as if it were a faucet and getting all over her shirt like paint on a canvas. I guess I hit more than just her chin with that knee strike. I then noticed the male twin was still pointing the barrel of his gun to me.

"Who the fuck is this kid? And just who the fuck does he think he is?!" He asks.

"I don't know... and I don't care!" She says in a way that could only be passed off as absolutely livid. "The little shit just killed 4 of us in a matter of seconds and he'll kill us too if we don't take care of him now!" She says holding her gun back up, ready to pull the trigger and end me and my deadly rampage.

"No, wait a minute." He responded in a sort of calm, yet cold voice. His sister gave a confused look upon hearing that. 

"What do you mean 'wait a--'"

"I say we take our time with him. You said it yourself, sis. He just killed four of us. You really want to give him an easy way out-- especially after pulling that stunt? A bullet to the head or a knife to neck would be too good for him. Besides, what more can he do anyway? I mean look at him." He says gesturing to my bullet wound. 

"Yeah. You know what? You got a point there. Let's make this brat pay!" The sister says after a couple seconds of thinking, going along with his idea.

During their little chit-chat, I was on the ground, on my hand knees, hunched over and groaning in pain, as well was pressing my hand against the wound as my blue shirt quickly grew more and more damp as I was trying to stop the bleeding.   
What am I going to do? I need to do something before they kill me. I refuse to die without at least taking those bastards with me first.

"Come on! Get up! FIGHT!!!"

"So you think you can just walk up and fuck with us? Our tribe? Our family? Huh?!" The man says as he kicks me in the gut around the area I was shot, sending me backward a few feet as I convulsed and writhed in pain as my wounded body hit the ground. I barely had enough ability to let out a sound as the pain was almost unbearable.

"Come on, little boy!" The sister spoke up in a mocking voice. "Where's all that fight in you from earlier?! You tuckered yourself out already?"

If I weren't injured right now, I'd have ended them already. 

"I hope you know you're going to pay for what you just did. I don't care if you're a kid! We're gonna show you what happens when you fuck with people like us!" The sister continued. "You're about to know what a slow, painful death feels like when we beat the shit out of you!" As I'm getting to my feet, she walks up to me and cracks me in the head with a vicious pistol whip, causing a bit of a ringing sensation in my ears as the crown of my head opened up with a small red stream flowing from the gash.

I need to get up and fight through the pain. I have to keep fighting. I have to avenge Bruno. But I don't have anyone to bail me out this time.

So far, with almost every encounter I've had, I've survived by either mere luck or because someone saved me at the last minute. On that fateful night I had my mother and my father. During the fall of Dorado, I had Aaron. During my fight with the colossus, I got lucky when that rock fell and severed its arm and freed me. And in Oniyuri, I had Bruno. I don't have any of that anymore. I have nothing. I have nobody. The only person I can truly rely on now is myself.

No mom.

No dad.

No Aaron.

No Bruno.

I am all I have left now.

As she moves toward me again for another pistol whip to the left side of my head, I duck and move to the outside to her right side. As I do this, before she has a chance to react, I pull out my mother's knife and plunge it into her thigh, causing her let out a sharp cry of pain. In the split second opening I had before she regained her senses, I grab her left hand and wrist-- the hand that had the gun in it-- and I squeezed as hard as I could and dug my thumb into the space between her thumb and forefinger (since I once heard there was a pressure point in that part of the hand) and caused her grip to slightly open and loosen a bit, which was just enough for me to wrestle her gun away. 

No more than a second after I get the gun out of her hand, she attempts a back hand on me on the same side of my head I got pistol whipped on. I duck under it and quickly aim the gun between her legs with my right hand and shoot the gun out her brother's hand (who had his gun up) before he could fire it at me again.

As that was happening, the she pulled out her own knife and tried to bring it down on my back. Luckily for me, I had anticipated that and pulled out one of my sais and used it to block the attempted stab by holding it behind me. Because of that, the sai ended up catching and going straight through her forearm due to the force she was bringing the knife down. I immediately took another shot with her gun, the bullet this time connecting with and going through the brother's knee and causing him to fall down as all kinds of swears started spilling from his mouth. I then quickly jump upward, head-butting his sister in the gut, briefly stunning her again before she could pull the sai impaling her arm out to try and stab me. This whole sequence from when I lodged the knife in her leg to the headbutt I just gave her took place in about 4 seconds.

I then began to move toward him, abandoning his sister for a few moments, who was pretty much floored at this point. I saw that he was limping toward his other gun, so I (powering through my injury) did a running sweep, targeting the injured leg and causing him to fall to the ground after a sharp cry. As he struggles to get up, I then throw my sai (the unloaded one) into his other leg and run up to him, using the sai as a sort of boost and hit him with a knee strike just like I did with his sister moments ago, causing him to fall on the ground again as he yelled swears through his gritted teeth, clearly in a lot of pain (I also made sure that I positioned myself between him and his gun as a precaution). The move also caused a lot of pain in my side too, but that's to be expected given the limitations this bullet wound has just given me. I then look and see the sister is still on the ground, wounded and winded. I then look back and see the brother is still trying to get back up as he was now at eye level with me, staring at me with an angered look and breathing heavily.

I aim his sister's weapon at his foot and fire again, this time really crippling him and causing him to scream in pain. Her gun has no more bullets left so I just toss it away. I decided not to shoot his sister because I can easily handle her with the playing field now leveled, so I just used the last bullet on the brother to prevent him from getting away or getting his gun back. Before I go over to the sister, who was still sharply breathing from the pain her impaled arm caused her. I grab the handle of the sai I had tossed into the brother's leg and quickly yank it out of his leg, causing him to yelp as I put it away. He won't be going anywhere. I then pick up his gun and move back toward the sister to finish her off, who was unaware of me approaching. She was still hunched over as I walked up to her side. I then held up the weapon used to kill Bruno and pointed the barrel toward her head. 

Next thing you know, right before I pull the trigger, I feel a force hit me in my wound, instantly hunching me over. In a desperate attempt at survival, she swiftly elbowed me in the side where I was shot. She then basically tackled me to the ground, causing me to randomly fire the last shot of the gun into nothing. She then straddled my midsection to pin me, resting her weight on my wound, while also blocking off access to my weapons as they were just beyond her legs. She then once again pulled out her knife with the same arm I had impaled with the sai earlier, which she clearly managed to dislodge as I saw the bloody weapon lying on the ground where she was hunched down.

"End the kid! End that little shit! Make him feel all of it!" The brother yelled in a pained voice.

"I think this is it for me. I think I'm done. I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you, Bruno. I should've been there to protect you. I'm sorry." I thought to myself as I saw the knife raised above my chest about to be plunged into my heart. I'd tried my best to squirm free, but it was all in vain. I know if it was from the exhaustion, the blood loss, or both, but I feel so tired and weak. I...I think this is it for me. I think I'm finally done.

Before she attempted to finish me, the sister decided to leave me with some closing words of her own.

"Where are your parents, kid? Did they toss you out? Was that it? Or maybe they kicked the bucket? Yeah, that's probably it. Probably grimm fodder, I bet. If that's the case, when you get to the afterlife, be sure to look them in the eyes when you   
tell them who sent you there!" She yelled before bringing the knife down on me, aimed at my heart. 

And just like that, the whirlwind within me had regained its strength. Before the knife could connect with my now raging heart, as a last ditch effort, I put my right forearm in the way, the knife treating my arm like it were a pin cushion as it went through. The pain in my arm felt like a surge of electricity coursing through me, but I didn't have time to waste. As I used whatever energy I could in this position, I palm struck my mother's knife that was still stuck in her thigh causing her to let out another cry and slightly let up a bit, giving me a brief window to act. I then pulled the knife out and plunged it back in her leg multiple times until I could push her off me. At that point she was in so much pain, she forgot about the knife still lodged in my arm and was completely defenseless as she let go. I then headbutted her broken nose, causing my head to hurt even more and knocking her on her back as I got on top of her.

In my revived rage, I climbed on top of her and repeatedly plunged my mother's knife into her chest over and over and over again, releasing a pained and anguished cry with each blow, until the area I was stabbing was nothing more than an open chest cavity with nothing but a puddle of blood and minced flesh inside. I was taking everything out on this one person. My anger, my rage, my loss, my grief, my sadness, my anguish, my hatred. Everything that I've endured for the past month and a half was all being let out and directed toward this one person. She was probably dead after the first few stabs, but I kept on going. The only things that were being let out of me were my blood and my emotions as the tears that were now falling down my face that was now twisted and contorted in anguish as I was just letting it all out.

"YOU KILLED HIM! TOOK HIM FROM ME! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU!" These were the words I was screaming at the top of my lungs. Though she was the one I was looking at when I was letting   
everything out on her, it was really the world itself I was screaming at that these words were directed toward—this cruel and merciless world.

Just as my father predicted, the world has pushed me. It has knocked me around. And now it has finally broken me.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE— AGH" Suddenly, I felt another, even harder, blunt force hit me in my wounded area again so hard that it knocked me off of her with ease and sent me flying as I crashed into a tree that ended my short midair journey. My body was screaming in pain as whatever hit me felt like a lightning fast gut punch, but if the punch was accompanied by a pair of brass knuckles. Judging from where that hit me, that must have come from where the brother was lying.   
That wasn't him was it? 

Right after whatever it was that hit me struck, I saw out of my peripheral vision that the object was red and long with a short black tip (possibly a hilt, assuming it was a blade) just as it connected with me and bounced off. As I clutch my wound and cough up a bit of blood, I could see out of my slightly fading vision that made me question what was in front of me because either a.) that shot hit me harder than I thought and is causing me to hallucinate or b.) there is another person standing there beside the downed brother. As I regained my senses a bit, I can confirm that it was indeed the latter.

It is a woman. She looked to be about 5'6 (1.67 meters) and she had long, black hair. She was wearing a red and black dress with a red band of cloth that wrapped around her midsection as well as what looks like a pair of small black shorts poking out from underneath. On her forearms she had red gauntlets that protruded outward at the elbows with black gloves underneath. For her legs she wore leggings that stopped at her midthigh and a pair of black heels for footwear. Around her neck were multiple beaded necklaces and covering her face was a strange-looking white mask with red markings that resembled the face of a grimm. Around her waist she also wore some kind of belt that appeared to be for holding up a large black sheath she had resting on her left hip. And in her hands, she held a long, red sword with a black hilt. I then look over to the brother and judging from the look on his face, he looked like he just met his saving grace. He seems to know who she is. But just who is she though and what connection does she have? Is she their actual leader? If so, I'm going for her too.

"Ra-Raven!" The brother said, still with pain in his voice.

So that's her name huh? "Raven".

"P-please help me, Raven!" The brother pleaded. "That thing-- he came out of nowhere and he... he killed all of us! Every single fucking one of us! That kid's not human! He's a monster!" 

A monster? No, I'm human alright-- a human with nothing left to lose (except for my last bullet that is). In fact, I think I know what to do with it now.

"Please kill him, Ra--"

"I want you to get up and go on ahead. Get back to the camp, okay?" She says as she looks down to him while cutting him off in a calm, sort of comforting yet, authoritative voice.

"I... I can't walk! That thing..." He says pointing at me. "It--"

"Take this branch and use it as a crutch." She says as she cut off a branch from a nearby tree and handing it to him. The brother takes the branch and uses it to pick himself up.

"Th-thank you, Raven." The brother says, graciously.

"Now go." She orders. "I'll handle--"

[BANG!]

Cutting her off mid-sentence, I fired the last bullet of my gun as it found its destination, briefly visiting the interior of the man's skull before exiting the other side, killing him the same way he killed Bruno. Now there's only one person left.

This Raven person slowly turned her head to me and looked over to me as I was still holding the weapon up, the barrel still smoking. As she was now facing me completely, I could see that there were now more red markings on her mask than what I saw a couple seconds ago. Probably due to the blood spatter.

"Do you want to try that on me as well?" Raven dares. I then decide to lower my weapon mainly because that was my last bullet and because I'm hoping this might lure her into a false sense of security and allow me to catch my breath a bit. "Smart. You must be a pretty strong kid to have been able to take them on with those injuries." 

"And judging from how you look," She continued. "...you must have been wandering outside of any kind of civilization for a while, haven't you? I have to hand it to you for lasting as long as you have. Most people your age wouldn't have lasted a day. I can tell just from looking at you that you're something else. You are unlike anyone, I've ever come across."

I wasn't on my own... not entirely. I had Bruno. Until your people killed him!

"In fact, because of that, I almost don't want to kill you." She continues.

What?! What is she talking about?

"Judging from... well... all of this, something tells me you might be of some use to us."

"What?!" I thought to myself, surprised and confused by her words.

Her goons murdered my best friend and I just killed all 6 of them with the last one being right in front of her and she's trying to negotiate with me into joining her?!? Either she's terrified and desperate to live, completely delusional, or she has one fucked up sense of humor! Either way, I've heard enough.

"So what will it b--" I didn't let her finish as I then rushed her with my weapons out. But as I did so, just like in Oniyuri, I felt that same surge of energy course through me as my blood was rushing throughout my body (as well as rushing out of my body), allowing my body to zoom toward her like a rocket. The force was so strong, it felt like I was going to tear all the muscles in my body, reminiscent to how my arm felt when I threw the sai at that beowolf Oniyuri.

Anyway, it seems we were both surprised by my sudden burst of energy as Raven barely side-stepped out of the way, causing me to barely miss her. As I was moving past her due to the momentum, I didn't have time to turn my head toward her as I felt her bring the hilt of her sword to my head, instantly and effortlessly knocking me to the ground and causing me to drop my weapons. As I tried to crawl and retrieve them I then felt something firmly press down on my back and pin me to the ground, causing me to release an exhausted and pained cry. As I turned my head to look up at her, I could see that she had her foot resting on my back, using her weight to keep me down as she stared me down through her mask. Due to the immense strain on my body that burst of energy caused me, I couldn't move a finger. I was completely at her mercy.

After a few seconds of examining me, Raven then crouches down, her foot still sitting on my back and leans her masked face close to mine.

"I'll let you sleep on it."

She then brought the hilt of her sword back to my head again and tapped my temple, making my sight instantly go to black as I was knocked unconscious.

*CHAPTER END*

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Hey everyone!

So uh... yeah... that happened.

I feel like I was taking a bit of a big risk here by having Simin snap because I was/am very worried how this one will be received because of that. I'm worried people might see this as a full on heel turn and turn on Simin rather than a kid who was just pushed over the edge and lost all hope after seeing the last remnant of his old life that he clung to get ripped away from him before going absolutely ballistic on the people who killed him. I'm still unsure as to how I handled it because I'm worried there might be areas where I might have made him almost feel like a bit of a sadistic killing machine because in the end, Simin wanted those bandits (more specifically the last guy) to suffer for killing Bruno and I was worried I may have overdone it in parts like when he straight up destroyed the last guy's legs to pretty much immobilize him before shooting him right in front of Raven. Not to mention this is the chapter where Simin kills a person for the first time so I had to figure out how I was going to handle it.

There were other versions of the scene that I had but I didn't think they would have made as much logical sense or they just didn't flow as well or it just created too many roadblocks for future chapters. (Chapter 11 is another chapter I'm also really nervous about, but I'll talk about that when we get there).

Not to mention there was also the violence in this chapter I was a bit worried about as well. But I did say it was going to be graphic. But don't worry, though. I don't think any other chapter in this whole series will be as graphic as this one. The only one that really comes close is chapter 4. I was honestly debating turning down the violence for this chapter, but I decided to keep it the way it was given the nature of it due to Simin reaching his breaking point.  
Speaking of which, it is now official. Simin has officially hit rock bottom and has now reached his lowest point as he is now broken by the cruelties of the world and losing everyone and everything he holds dear. Simin right now, could care less about anything and in the next chapter, we will see just how low of a point Simin has reached. How will he bounce back from this? Well that's what Act 3 is mostly going to be dedicated toward and will essentially be the first step in "rebuilding" him.

And now we will move onto Act 3. Act 3, is pretty much going to be dedicated to essentially "rebuilding" his character and getting him to bounce back from this. At this point Simin does not care anymore and is absolutely pissed at the world, but there is going to be a character that sort of serves as his moral compass for Act 3 that pulls him back from the deep end and helps him get back on his feet. And as I said in last chapter's ending statement, Act 3 is going to have a lot of dialogue and was probably the most difficult act for me to write due to the fact that I hadn't written much dialogue in this volume so far (in regards to the chapters I have posted) and I needed to get more comfortable with it since I was going to be having more character interactions. As of now, I think I'm more comfortable than I was then.

Also Raven is officially the first canon character to make an appearance in this fanfiction. After 8 chapters, we have finally met our first canon character! I'm going to be honest, of all the chapters I've written so far, Raven is definitely a character I had the most fun handling in this fanfic. I think you all might like how I handle her (or at least I hope). We will also be meeting some new original characters this Volume that I created mainly just to add some range to the cast. For example, there is one character that I hope you might like who is kind of a comedic character in a way. She's pretty much a compulsive gambler, who is terrible at card games, and also likes to call Simin by a nickname she made up for him. I hope you will like them and if there is anything you think I could do better with those original characters then please don't hesitate to tell me.

Anyway, I think that's pretty much it for my closing thoughts/statements for this chapter. But before I leave you with fun fact #8, I wanted make a quick little announcement:

In regards to where I am right now in Volume 1, I have finished all 5 of the anthology chapters and now have chapters 16-20 and the epilogue to work on. And I am currently very, very close to finishing 16. (There's a fight scene in that chapter that I honestly a lot of fun writing).

Fun Fact #8: The only reason why I had the bandit shoot Bruno again was because I didn't like the idea of having another offscreen kill (because originally, Simin was just going to walk up and see him dead just like with his dad) so I had the bandit shoot Bruno again to make the kill at least sort of semi-offscreen while still a bit onscreen.


	9. Volume I: Chapter IX: Ultimatum

WARNING: *Strong language*

“Hey, who’s the kid?”

“What’s Raven thinking bringing a kid here?”

“He looks pretty fucked up.”

“Yeah, those are some nasty looking injuries.”

“What’s a kid doing here?”

“Is he even still alive?”

“I’m betting he’s dead.”

These (as well as many others like them) were the words and voices I could hear and start to make out as I slowly came to and faded back into consciousness as the ringing noise in my throbbing head served as an alarm. I’m still a bit dazed (due to the blow I took to my head and the blood loss) and I can’t really tell where I am right now, but the ground feels cold and somewhat like soil. Due to the throbbing in my head, I decided to keep it pressed to the ground as the coldness of it felt very comfortable and alleviating.

I soon realized that my hands and feet were not bound as I started to stir and move around a bit more. Why didn’t they bind me? I guess they figured my injuries would be more than enough to keep me down. They’re not wrong to think that either. Everything hurts right now and the slightest movement is a struggle for me right now. Speaking of which, I noticed that I feel bandages wrapped around my entire torso and my forearm. Who treated me? Better question: why would they treat me? These people aren’t the kind to do that. They are more known for taking lives rather than saving them.

I think it’s time for me to get a good look at my surroundings now. I can’t keep my eyes closed forever. As I slowly opened my eyes, I was greeted by a much different environment than I was in when I was last conscious. I am surrounded on all sides by bars that stood between and a group of curious people wearing ragged clothes, all with a gun in their holster or knife in their scabbard. Some looked very dirty and scarred while others looked mostly fine (or at least fine to their standards). They were bandits. Just a bunch of thugs and criminals who prey on the weak and defenseless. I’ve always heard stories of bandits raiding villages and murdering innocents. Dorado would get occasional bandit attacks every now and then, but they would always get warded off by my dad, but I never thought I’d see the day I would be captured by them. Behind them I can see tents set up everywhere and behind me there was some kind of large fence or wall made of cut down trees with a few watchtowers stationed about. I guess that's the camp perimeter wall.

“Hey, he’s finally awake!”

“Guess that means I lose the bet.”

“You mind telling us who you are, kid?”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Why did Raven bring you here? What the fuck’s got her so interested in a runt like you?”

Damn, they’re annoying me! I wish they would all shut up and stop bombarding me with questions! I’d tell them to shut up myself, but that would just make my head hurt even more. I need to stay calm and ignore them so I can assess my situation. Judging from the fact that I am unbound by any ropes or chains or whatever, Raven (assuming it was her that put me in here) must feel pretty confident in my injuries being more than enough to keep me put. She’s probably right to be confident too. No way I can fight my way out. I wouldn’t last a minute in the current state I’m in. 

I look to the sky and see that the sun was starting to set as the air started to grow colder. I must have been out for a while. Maybe I can escape in the dead of night? Hmm... I don’t see anything useful around or in this cage for me to use to escape. As I moved my head around to search the cage some more, I could only find disappointment in the form of a small stone as that was the only thing in here with me. I then pat my pants down and check my pockets to see if I might have anything useful on me. But instead, the only thing I ended up getting was a daunting realization. 

(Gasp!)

“SHIT! I don’t have my weapons or mom’s knife!”

My heart and mind started to race a bit as I realized I didn’t have them on me and I began to frantically pat myself down even more, foolishly hoping they would just suddenly appear in my pockets. I then started to move my head to search around the cage again, completely abandoning my previous mindset and ignoring the small crowd watching me. 

“Where are they?!?” I thought frantically to myself. “Where are they?!? Where are they?!? Were they left at that clearing from earlier? Did that Raven person take them? That’s probably it. She must have taken them when she knocked me out.”

The small group of bandits, still curious, stayed around the cage either trying to basically interrogate me or silently observe me while others simply whispered among themselves, presumably coming up with their own theories of who I might be or whatever relation I may or may not have with Raven that would make her take an interest in me. 

(Sigh.)

I feel like the latest attraction at a zoo while a group of onlookers stare and gawk as if I’m some kind of animal. I wish they’d give me some space. 

Eventually, one by one, they all suddenly stopped and instantly grew silent, as they started to turn their heads toward a specific direction and parted as if they were making way for someone. I, also intrigued by whatever it was they may have reacted to, stopped what I was doing and looked in the same direction as well.

As the group opened up, I could see approaching me was the person who knocked me out and captured me: Raven. She was still wearing that strange mask she wore when I first saw her. I also noticed that she wasn’t alone this time either. She was accompanied by two people. On her right, a short girl standing at about 5’6 (1.7 meters), who appeared to be around 16 years of age with slightly tanned skin and icy blue eyes that could stare daggers into anybody. On her head sat dark brown hair that draped over her ears and stopped just above her shoulders as well as a pair of thin eyebrows sitting above her eyes. She’s wearing a brown vest over a slightly unbuttoned dirty white shirt, slightly revealing what looked to be a black bra underneath. On her legs, she was wearing a pair of jeans that looked to be a maroon shade of red. One of the legs of the jeans was also rolled up. She was also wearing a strange article of legwear almost similar to Raven’s except they were brown with one of them having a strap resembling a garter as well as a pair of brown, fingerless gloves with a large brown bracer on one of her wrists. She looked at me with an expression that appeared somewhat stern and intimidating, almost as if she were silently telling me to watch what I do or say. 

Moving on from the first girl, on Raven’s left, there is a pale girl who looked to be younger than the one on her right (15 perhaps) and about 5’5” (1.67 meters) in height. She had long, smooth, violet hair that looked to be reaching down to the small of her back. Her eyes were light green and somewhat resembled emeralds. She had a small nose, slightly dimpled chin, and medium sized ears with earlobes so small, you wouldn’t think she had any unless you looked close enough. A pair of violet, wispy brows also sat comfortably above her emerald eyes and were being slightly shielded behind curtain bangs that draped over her forehead. I could also see that she had a small flower tucked into her hair. I could tell from here that it was a white lily. Compared to everyone else here, she seemed to be very well-kept and a bit cleaner. Even her clothes are different from everyone else’s in terms of style. She wore an indigo tank-top (that looked like it leaned a bit on the blue side, but you could still tell it was indigo) with a floral pattern along the hem with an open, wool, cream colored jacket that she wore over it. On her bottom half, she wore wood brown leggings with dark green lacing that ran down the sides with the laces knotted and dangling from the hem around her ankles where she wore a pair of cream colored boots with caramel colored laces and soles.

Her casual attire definitely looked out of place here and because of that, she arguably stood out as much as Raven. Who is she? Was she kidnapped and taken hostage? No. That can’t be it. If she were, she’d be in here with me. Hostage or not, I can tell she (as well as the brown-haired girl) must be very important here just from where they are standing. Just like the first girl, she was also looking at me with an expression that said I should watch what I do or say. But also unlike the first girl, it wasn’t an intimidating and stern expression, but more one of worry and urgency.

“Everyone clear out!” Raven ordered in a commanding voice. “Give him some space! We don’t want to make our potential new member uncomfortable.” 

“So she is the leader.” I mentally noted. “Well I guess that officially confirms tha-- wait! What did she say?! ‘Potential new member’? Is she serious? She really wasn’t kidding earlier! I literally just tried to kill her this morning and now she’s captured me and is calling me a potential new member! Just what is wrong with this woman?!”

The small group of bandits seemed just as surprised and confused as I was judging from the looks on some of their faces that they exchanged among one another and the slight bit of hesitation before they started to break away in small chunks and go about their business. Just what exactly is going on here!?

“Vernal. Mari. That includes you two as well.” She turns and says to the two girls accompanying her in a quieter, yet still commanding, voice as the group had already completely dissipated at this point.

“But Ra--”

“Do as I say.” Raven says more assertively as she interrupts Vernal’s questioning. “We’ll begin today’s training session a bit late today, so I want you two to be ready by then. Besides, this is between me and him. This is none of your concern. Not yet at least.”

The two glance at each other almost like a silent conversation was held and concluded in just a matter of a split second before turning and leaving me and Raven in private. Raven takes a long look at me as I stare up at her almost as we just had our own silent conversation. She definitely remembers today-- not that I think she’d forget. After all, I literally made an attempt at her life… and failed miserably. 

After our brief stare down (or stare up in my case), Raven then takes off her mask, revealing a pale face with cold, remorseless, piercing red eyes. She looked like she had 29 years of age on her. It felt like she was staring into my soul. This part of the camp had now fallen completely silent as Raven and I just continued looking at each other as the only sound was a small breeze that softly howled as it passed by as our hair briefly succumbed to the winds. It didn’t take long for one of us to break the silence.

“So, did you sleep well? More importantly, have you calmed down yet?” Raven asked, being the first to speak up.

“What do you want?” I replied, wanting to get answers right away. I have so many questions right now.

“I’ll get to that in a bit. But right now, you probably have a lot of questions buzzing in that head of yours. ‘Where am I?’ ‘What did you do to me?’ ‘Where are my weapons?’ ‘What’s going on?’ ‘Why are my wounds treated?’ ‘What does she mean by ‘potential new member’?’ And probably much more.” 

Well that was pretty much spot on. I hate to admit it, but she read me like a book.

“Everything. Now.” I demand, not yet realizing that I was way in over my head with my words.

“Straight to the chase I see.” Raven responds. “I like that. But just so you know, I give the orders around here. Got it? So just this once, I’ll let it slide. Anyway, let me catch you up to speed. I’ll keep this brief. After you were knocked unconscious, I   
picked up your unconscious body (along with your weapons) and carried you with me back to camp. Everyone was pretty surprised when they saw you, a mere kid, with me and not the hunting party. They asked me where they were and I ended up telling them they were all killed in a grimm attack. I never told them who you were though and ignored any and all questions regarding you. I can tell you’re surprised and confused by that judging from the look on your face. Anyway, I then took you in my tent where I, with some assistance, patched you up. After that I took your weapons and put them away before putting you in this cage as a precaution. Now we are all caught up. But something tells me you have another question or two on your mind don’t you?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” I respond. “Why didn’t you kill me? And why did you lie to them about the fact that I killed them?”

“Very good questions: why lie? Why didn’t I kill you? After all it would make sense given what you’ve done.” Raven says as she paces a bit like a professor giving a lecture.

“You should have killed me.” I answer.

“And waste your potential? I don’t think so. You can be a useful asset to us and I wasn’t just going to waste that. And if I told them what really happened, the entire camp would have ripped you apart, also ending your life.”

“What do you mean by' ‘asset’?” I ask in a confused annoyed voice.

“I’m a survivor. More importantly I am a survivor who makes use of the things I find. And today I found you. When I examined you, you had a deep stab wound in your forearm, a bit of head trauma due to a gash on your head, severely bruised ribs, and a profusely bleeding bullet wound. With those injuries, you should not have been able to even stand a chance against, let alone win. You should have been killed back there. But despite that, you, on your own, managed to single-handedly kill six of my own with those injuries. You didn’t win off luck. It was skill, determination, and more importantly, strength that won you that fight. We can use some of that here.”

“Well, to be fair, I ran up and got the jump on three of them and made one of them get killed by friendly fire. It wasn’t until the last two that I got my other injuries. But aside from that, your people killed my best friend. He was my family. They deserved everything that happened to them for what they did.” I answer coldly with little remorse in my voice.

“Look, kid. I saw the body of your dog back there and honestly, he was on his last leg anyway. He wouldn’t have lasted for another 2 days. It’s survival of the fittest in this world. And if you’re too weak, then you are deemed unfit to live.” She says harshly.

“Screw. You.” I say struggling to keep it together as I start to feel the rage returning.

“I suggest you watch your mouth, boy.” She says, asserting her dominance in the situation. “Trust me when I say I am one of the last people on Remnant you want to make enemies of, let alone piss off. I may not seem like it on the outside, but I’m honestly already angry enough as it is. I didn’t kill you then, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a change of heart. If you’re even in the slightest aware of the situation you’re in, then I suggest you get a grip and listen to the ultimatum I am about to generously offer you.”

“An ultimatum?” I ask with a hint of curiosity, but still feeling the anger that was rising in me.

“Yes. Would you care to hear it?” Raven offers as she gets down to a knee.

“Do either of my options involve ending you and your whole stupid tribe?”

With that, Raven’s expression instantly became colder and irritated as she simply stood back up. Next thing you know, I then feel a swift kick to my gut, but missing where I was shot and bandaged and I was immediately sent into the other side of the cage hitting the bars hard and causing a loud metallic clang to ring before I hit the ground, face first, unable to breathe for a few seconds.

“One more and I kill you, right here, right now.” Raven said coldly. “Do I make myself clear?”

I’d respond, but I’m too busy trying to take a breath. She then continues:

“When I found you, I noticed that your injuries were not only severe, but they would have been fatal if left untreated, which is primarily why I brought you here and saved you. However, your wounds (judging from how they looked) should not be healed for a while. Putting that aside for a second, I also noticed on you a letter and map. Although it was mostly covered in blood, I could make out the name ‘Kuroyuri’. That’s where you were originally headed, weren’t you?”  
I reluctantly nodded my head yes. “What do those have to do with each other?” I struggle to ask, getting to my feet.

“Well, with your injuries and the weather quickly becoming colder as Winter is just around the corner, there is no way you’d be able to make it in your condition. If you escape or I release you (for whatever reason), you will die before you will have even made it. That is a guarantee. You won’t last very long out there and it will be pointless and your life and whatever potential you may have will be wasted and gone.

“But, luckily for you, you ended up in the best (and only) place you could be from where I found you since (as I said) you had what would have been fatal injuries and we were the only ones close enough to help you. Perhaps you can be of use to us the same we were of use to you when we saved you. You know the old saying: ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’.”

“What exactly do you mean?” I ask trying to figure her out

“You have two choices: choice 1: I release you and take you back where I found you and you can go on your merry way and die trying to reach Kuroyuri (which you will, especially if you try anything funny where I may have to end you myself in case of the event of choice one occurring). Or choice 2: you accept my offer to become a part of my tribe and we take you in and give you a place to stay.”

“So my options are essentially join or die.” I say walking back over to her.

“Look at it whichever way you want. I’ve given you your choices and you now know what happens depending on which one you choose. You are in control of your fate and your future right now. I’m leaving it in your hands.” She says as she turns   
without saying another word. 

“You’re insane if you think I’ll join a bunch of thieves and killers like you! Unlike you, I still have my humanity and I’m not going to sell it out to the likes of you!” I blurt out while standing against the bars. Raven then stopped dead in her tracks, her back still to me.

“Killers? Humanity?!” She says with a chuckle as she turns and walks over to me and grabs my collar before forcefully pulling me into the bars, which caused another metallic clang and catching me by surprise. “Really?! You want to call us killers? You want to preach and lecture me about your humanity? Coming from the kid who literally just this morning, ran up to and brutally murdered six of my own-- unprovoked I might add! Tell me, what did you have to gain to run up and kill them? Huh? Who’s life was on the line that inclined you to run out and butcher them the way you did? Surely it wasn’t yours since you admitted to being the aggressor and I know damn well it wasn’t your dog since he was already dead! What you did was not out of self-defense. It was nothing more than malicious revenge! It was murder! Not to mention how little remorse you showed me when talking about killing them and going on to threaten my tribe—my family—to my face! So tell me, if we’re killers with no humanity, then what the fuck do you think that makes you? Huh?! You’re every bit the things you say we are. The only difference is your standing on a pedestal and pretending like you’re any better and I’ve just kicked that pedestal from under you. So get off your high horse because you’re just as dirty as the rest of us and all you’ve done and said just further emphasizes my point. So don’t go preaching and running your mouth like you’re any better when your actions clearly say otherwise!” 

With that, she releases in a shove, causing me to fall on my back, as I was taken aback by her words with nothing to respond with. She then continues with a calmer tone sort of lecturing tone:

“When I came to that clearing and saw you repeatedly stabbing one of my own and then proceeded to shoot the other one right in front of me, I’d be lying if I said that didn’t piss me off to no end, almost to the point of killing you. But when I turned my head and got a good look at your eyes, I saw what you are capable of. I saw strength in those eyes. And that means that you do have what it takes to be a part of us… so long as you’re willing. I knew you were something too valuable to pass up. I have never met someone like you before. You’re someone who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to survive. You have the blood of a true survivor coursing through your veins. I know it.”

She then turns and begins to walk away, but then stops and looks back at me. 

“Here’s another thing: don’t piss me off again. My offer still stands, but just know you’re already on thin ice with me. You have until the 19th to think it over and make your decision. In the meantime, you will be given food and drink. This is your second chance. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste it.”

On that note, she turns and continues walking away, leaving me to the company of my own thoughts.

“I’ll never join a band of low-lives like them. I’d rather take my chances in the wilderness-- even if it does mean death. But about what she said, is she actually right? About me being a killer with no humanity? Being just like them? I can’t be! There’s no way! But then again, what if she is. After all, I can’t deny that was pure, unadulterated rage vengeance back there that was driving me and nothing else. I was the aggressor in that altercation who charged in and fought with the intent to kill. But they killed Bruno. They took the last thing I had left in this messed up world. The one thing that kept me together. I-- I can’t be one of them. Right?”

I eventually just let out a long, exasperated sigh. I have a lot to think about until the 19th.

* * *

It’s getting pretty dark since Raven gave me her ultimatum about a couple hours ago. The bright sky was quickly transitioning from a purple haze to a pitch black as the moon and stars gradually made their presence known. It’s also gotten a bit colder too. Just then, a sudden breeze hit me and caused my whole body to shiver. Raven wasn’t kidding about the cold! I wish I had some blankets or somethi-- my thoughts were then interrupted by a low, deep growl. Instinctively, I put my hands up to defend myself only to realize that it turned out to be my stomach groaning, making me look ridiculous. 

“I wonder when my food that Raven talked about is coming. I haven’t eaten anything all day yet.” I begin to think out loud. Raven did say I’d be getting food and drink right? I guess she never really did say when though.

“I swear to the gods if my food turns out to just be a few crumbs on a plate, I am going to take this rock and beam it at the ser--” I catch myself mid-sentence as I notice the sudden appearance of someone a few yards from the cage. I look and see that it is that purple haired girl from earlier. How long was she standing there? Did she hear me? Judging from the nervous look on her face, she might have heard me. 

“--ver.” I say more quietly as I finish my thoughts. I then look down and notice that she’s carrying something in her hands. It looks like some sort of tray. And smells like...food! Finally! I’m starving. It took a few seconds before she decided to speak up.

“U-um. I was told to bring you your food.” She says a bit timidly with a hint of nervousness in her voice. 

Just her presentation alone makes her seem nothing like the others here or the ones I encountered this morning. There is no way she’s a bandit. Right? I literally will not believe it if she actually is. 

She slowly walks over and bends down to slide the plate and cup between the bars. I couldn’t exactly tell what was in the cup due to the light, but it smelled a bit like tea. I could feel the heat radiating from it, slightly warming my legs as it sat next to me. It feels very nice. I bet if I had a bunch of these things they would warm me right up from the heat they give off. But I guess a blanket would be just as useful… and not as wasteful… and more efficient.

“I made sure to heat it up a bit more for you on my way here. It should keep you warm for a bit, especially in this weather.” She says, informing me of her good deed. “But let it cool a bit first. I may have overdone it a bit.” She added.

“Thanks for the warning I guess.” I thought to myself.

Though she seems a bit timid, she’s also surprisingly polite. Not to mention she also has a bit of a warm and friendly demeanor about her. I don’t trust it. Not one bit.

I didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now after the day I’ve had, so I just nodded in assurance that I’ll heed her advice. I then take a look down at my plate, which consisted of a small loaf of bread, some corn on the cob (which I assume was stolen since this is clearly not an area where it would grow), some small pieces of potatoes and mushrooms, and a small chunk of meat. I wonder how many people they killed for this. But I can’t deny it all smelled really good though (especially considering how hungry I am). But I had a growing concern regarding the meat.

“What is this meat made of?” I ask in a suspicious tone.

“Relax. It’s just rabbit haunch. It’s not your dog, I promise.” She says to reassure me.

“Well that’s a relie-- wait! She knows!”

I looked at her with a confused and suspicious expression.

“How did you--?”

“Raven told me everything. As well as the offer she gave you.” She says, cutting me off.

“What?! I thought Raven said she didn’t tell anyone!”

“I was told by Raven that she gave you all a different story. How many of you know?” I say, quickly growing alarmed as I asked my question.

“Just me.” She answered. “I promised Raven that I’d keep it a secret.” 

I don’t entirely doubt that judging from how she presents herself, but I can't help but be skeptical and on edge given the fact I know literally nothing about this girl. Not to mention she is probably one of them.

“And why should I believe you?” I ask with a suspicious tone.

“Because (knowing her) if I couldn’t be trusted with this information, Raven would not have given it to me in the first place. And besides, even if I were to tell anyone, I know for a fact that this entire tribe would come crashing down on you wanting your head on a pike by now and all that anger cluttered into one area would essentially make this place a hot spot for grimm. So please trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about.” She explained.  
“Fine. Whatever.” I say reluctantly letting it go with no choice but to hope she keeps her word after giving a stressed sigh before I reach for my food to finally start eating.

“So...” She continues. “Do you have a name?” She asks curiously as she sits down, legs crossed in front of me and leaning back on her palms, the only thing in between us being the bars. 

“What is she doing?” I thought. “Why is she still here? Doesn’t she have anywhere else to be right now? I want nothing to do with these people. Maybe if I’ll stay silent and ignore her she’ll get the hint and just go away.”

“Oookay. So this is the tone we’re going with.” She says quietly to herself due to the awkwardness I created with my silence. Maybe she got the message and is leaving now. “I’ll go first then...” 

“Dammit! I thought to myself. 

“I’m Mari.” She says holding out her hand in between the bars for me to shake.

I ignore it and continue to stay silent, hoping she would catch on.

“Okay then. That was supposed to be your cue to tell me your name.” She says, trying to persuade me to speak.

“Damn, she’s persistent!” It’s clear that she’s not going anywhere at this point or has nothing better to do. I guess I have no choice but to acquiesce to her pestering. 

“Simin.” I respond quietly with a bit of annoyance in my tone.

“Simin, huh? That’s a nice name.” She compliments. “Can I call you Sim for short--?”

“No.” I immediately say coldly, cutting her off.

“Well… um… it’s nice to meet you, Simin.” She says as she holds out her hand again to me.

She’s up to something. I just know it.

“What do you want?” I ask as if I were a criminal about to be interrogated by a detective.

“Nothing.” She says. “I just… wanted to get to know you is all.” The way she said that sounds like that’s not all.

“Sure.” I say in a sarcastic tone.

“And... I wanted to let you know that I’m sorry to hear about everything that happened today.” She admitted.

Is she serious right now?

“ ‘Sorry’? You’re sorry?” I say, not buying her genuineness.

“Yes. I am so--”

“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through today?! What I’ve been through every day for the past month and a half? Do you have any idea what I’ve lost? My family is dead. My home is gone. My best friend is dead. I lost the last bit of family and the only thing I had left in this world. I have nothing now. Nothing! And you people are the ones who took the last thing I had away from me! So don’t tell me you're sorry! ‘Sorry’ won’t change anything! ‘Sorry’ won’t give me Bruno back!”

“Simin, what happened to you was unfortunate, but look at it this way: the people who killed your dog are now dead. We aren’t them. So why are you holding a grudge against all of us and holding us all accountable for their actions? We didn’t kill your dog. They did.” Mari says trying to reason with me as I grew silent.

“Look…” She continues. “…you’re not thinking straight right now. Just please try to look past this and give us a chance, Simin. Think about it: If you refuse Raven’s offer, you will be sent back out into the wilderness and you will die out there, especially with Winter not that far away. You do realize that right? But if you join us, not only will you be able to live, but we could be a new family for you. We can give you a new life here.” She holds out her hand again hoping I would accept.  
I’m sorry, what? Who does she think she is, talking like these scumbags can just replace the family that I lost. Replace the life that I lost. Replace everything!. As if they could give me everything I ever wanted. That is something being offered that I don’t believe can be provided and I refuse to hear any of it.

“So? What do you say?” She asks.

Having heard enough I decide to fall silent again and ignore her. Mari didn’t know how to respond to my silence anymore as it looked like she was thinking to herself. Suddenly her face lit up a bit as if an idea had just come to her head.  
“I… wanted to give you something. I was hoping it might help.” She says as she reaches her pale hand behind her.

Curious, I move my eyes up while Mari reaches behind her for something. As she starts to pull whatever it is out, I could see that it had some red on it as it emerged from behind her. see Mari reach behind her, she pulls out what she wanted to give me. As soon as she pulled it out, I was instantly hit with a heavy feeling of grief as she pulled out a red cloth. And it wasn’t just any red cloth either. It was Bruno’s bandana.

She then spoke up.

“After Raven and I treated you and she put you in here, that was when I asked her what happened and she told me. She then took me back to the scene where it happened and we buried the bodies… all the bodies. That includes your dog. Before we left, I took the bandana from your dog’s neck, with the intent on giving it to you hoping it would help in any way. So… yeah. Here you go.”

Mari then takes the bandana and places it in front of me in the cage. Upon seeing the bandana, I could see that the diamond pattern was gone and was completely covered in his blood. Upon seeing that, a surge of many different emotions hit me at once-- none of them good. The emotion I felt the most was the anger I felt when I saw his body. Though not as much as last time, it was still enough to make me irate.

“Go away.” I say quietly and coldly.

“What was that?” She said leaning closer as she couldn’t hear me.

“I said go away.” I repeat slightly louder, while struggling to grip onto my composure.

“Simin, I didn’t mean--”

“I said...GO AWAY!!!” I yell at her, completely out of patience, as I pick up the rock I noted from earlier and beam it at her as it bounced off her forehead, leaving a decent sized bump in its place. Mari was knocked back with a surprised and startled yelp due to both the force of the rock hitting her and the suddenness of my outburst startling her. She fell on her back and proceeded to hold her hand to her forehead with visible pain on her face as she took a few sharp breaths. After she recollected herself, she then simply stood up before turning around. As she did so, though it was hard for me to see due to the dim light and her hand covering part of her face, I could barely make out the disappointed, saddened expression on her face.

“I’m sorry. I--I didn’t mean to upset you. I’ll leave you alone.” She says with much disappointment and in her voice. 

She then quickly walked away with her head down without even making so much as a peep. After she was gone, I go back to eating my food. Eventually, I look over to Bruno’s blood-stained bandana and touch it. After feeling the softness of the cloth, the urge to cry comes up.

“Dammit!” I think to myself as I bite down hard on my cheek. “You’ve shed enough tears already.” I bite so hard on my cheek that I could eventually taste blood.

Eventually the urge to cry passes as the pain was enough to distract me as I go back to eating my food. I then look over at my tea, which was still warm. She really meant it when she said she heated it up. I pick up the tea with my uninjured arm, wrapping Bruno’s bandana around the cup so I don’t burn my fingers, and drink it after giving it a few blows and place it on the plate. It didn’t take long for me to finish my food and tea as I pushed the plate and cup aside. Now that I had calmed down from a few minutes ago, I then curled up into a fetal position as I slowly laid back down with my back against the cold bars. I then grab Bruno’s bandana and hold it close against my chest as it was the only thing that brought me any kind of comfort on this cold night.

*CHAPTER END*

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Hey everyone! I don't really have a whole lot to say here, so I will try to keep this brief. But before I say anything, I just wanted to say that I've made a twitter account (I actually made it a while back, but I never really used it for anything other than to get permission to write this fanfic). I'm only really going to use it give small updates on where I am in the writing process of the fanfic (which you will probably see more of whenever I go on hiatus once finishing a volume) as well as maybe answer questions regarding the fanfic in case anyone has any. You can find it on my fanfiction.net version of this story in the reviews section which is literally under the same author name that I have here. I would post the link here, but I don't know if it will get the chapter removed or not if I do.

Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, we are officially in Act 3. Prepare for lots and lots of dialogue because there will be a lot of that here. I know I sound like a broken record here since this is about the third time I've brought this up. This was probably the hardest one for me to write since I needed to get comfortable writing dialogue so I put a lot of that here. 

Moving onto Simin, we now have a good idea of his new situation and we also pretty much see how far he's fallen. This act is essentially going to be about how he will start to bounce back from this and start to rebuild himself. Also yeah, Simin does not think highly of bandits and has a very low opinion on them. 

Also regarding new characters, we're going to meet some more oc's of mine. We've just been introduced to Mari and we will be meeting a few more in this volume as well. The other's aren't really huge characters, but I hope you will like them.  
I think out of all the characters I've written, created, or handled in this fanfic (more specifically this volume), Raven was probably my favorite. I really hope you like what I do with her. My goal here is to pretty much capture how she was in the series and see what I can do to maybe improve and build on it. I want to stay faithful to the character, but also capitalize on it. I also want to do some of my own things as well that would still fall within her character as well. By the way, there is another reason that Raven let Simin live, but we won't find that out until much later in this volume. Anyway, I think that's pretty much it. No crazy long essay this time! Yay! Anyway, here's fun fact #9:

Fun fact #9:Mari's design may or may not be inspired by and based off the design of my favorite DDLC (Doki Doki Literature Club) character, Yuri. but with a few changes and alterations (the biggest differences being how Yuri has purple eyes while Mari has green eyes and that Yuri wears a sweater while Mari wears an open wool jacket, etc.) I also subtly reference Yuri by putting a lily in Mari's hair, which (for those who don't know) Yuri means lily in Japanese (or at least according to google translate)


	10. Volume I: Chapter: Human Connection:

Volume I: Chapter X: Human Connection:

The Next Day: September 17th:

I feel exhausted. I didn't get much sleep last night, due to the pain in my side and arm. Although, I must admit that my wounds for some reason hurt slightly less today than they did yesterday, which is a good thing. I also had trouble sleeping because I kept thinking about what Raven told me yesterday. About me being just as bad as them. Being a killer with no humanity. All of it. Those words just...kept echoing over and over again in my head and I couldn't shake them out. And even when I did get some sleep, I could still hear her words repeatedly ring in my dreams. Ugh! Speaking of ringing, my head's starting to throb again.

I slowly and carefully flip my body around to press my head against the cold, metal bars to try and alleviate some of the feeling, while making sure not to irritate any of my wounds. As I did so, I also made sure that the warm, wool blanket wrapped around me didn't fall off as I pulled it tighter around my body.

"...wait a minute!" I thought to myself as something just occurred to me. "Blanket? I don't remember sleeping with a blanket last night."

I jolt up, forgetting about my injured body for a split second and am soon instantly reminded of my wounds as pain shot through my abdomen and arm, causing me to wince and sharply inhale through gritted teeth.

"That hurt!" I mentally commented as I let out a pained groan. "But anyway, where did this blanket come from? Did someone put it around me in my sleep?"

(Sigh).

I should just drop it. It's not like it matters anyway. It's keeping me warm and somewhat comfortable. So you know what? I'm not going to complain.

It's still a bit chilly even though it's daytime. Almost like the temperature from last night stayed the same. The sky is littered with clouds making everything appear gloomy and putting a slightly bluish gray tint on everything and contributing to the chilly weather due to the shade they created. I can't see a single bit of blue up there. I wonder what time it is. I couldn't have been asleep long considering how little of it I got.

As my senses were starting to come to me and the morning fatigue was wearing away, I could hear the sounds of conversation and rowdiness from the other bandits in the camp not too far away. I guess I'm not the first one awake. Judging from the smell, I take it that it must be time for breakfast. I'm a bit surprised I can smell the food all the way from here considering they don't sound to be very close by. I then turn around to face the bars and notice something on the ground. It's a plate full of food.

"How did I not notice that?"

Let's see: a sunny side up egg, some potatoes, a slightly burnt (but still good enough to eat) piece of toast and a cup of orange juice. The yolk was sort of running and getting into the rest of the food, but I didn't really mind. Before I pick up a fork and start eating, I notice the corner of something small and white poking out from under the plate. After slipping it from under the weight of the plate, I could see it was a small folded piece of paper. Out of curiosity, I open it to see what it says:

Hi, Simin.

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about last night. I wasn't being very considerate and you must have been undergoing a lot of stress after what happened. In hindsight, I probably should have given you the bandana at a later time. It may have also been a bit insensitive in regards to your situation when I was talking about you joining us and saying how we can basically be your new family. I know that you must have lost a lot and we are partially to blame for that. And I understand that we can't just replace what you lost, but I just want you to know that there is still a lot we can give you if you give us the chance. Anyway, I hope you can forgive me. After all, I forgive you for the rock throw. But as for the offer, just please at least give it some thought, okay?

P.S. Also, as you can see I brought you your breakfast early and left in a hurry since I figured you wouldn't want to see my face right now, so I heated it up really hot while you were asleep and left so that by the time you wake up, it will have already cooled (but I can't exactly predict when you wake up so I would still advise checking its temperature before eating). However, I will be delivering your dinner tonight in person and we will be having a talk okay? I'll see you then.

P.P.S. And yes. I was the one who put the blanket on you. You looked cold.

Well that explains the blanket mystery. I think that rock may have hit her a bit too hard in the head.

She certainly is a strange one. Still bitter about last night, I crumple the letter and toss it aside as I let out a flustered sigh. There is no way I'll be giving them a chance. There is nothing these people could offer me. Besides, bandits don't offer, they take. Just like they took Bruno.

And as for that Mari girl, I don't know what her full game is, but it almost seems to me like her trying to convince me to join is just Raven working through her. I don't know if I can trust her. How am I supposed to believe she is actually being genuine? How do I know she isn't just Raven's puppet or something and this all isn't just some act?

(Sigh).

Maybe I should get to eating. It'll help get my mind off things for a bit.

I start off with the potatoes and start scooping them into my starving mouth with the fork provided. Very soon, I finish them in no time at all. After that I move onto the egg and toast. I start off by poking the yolk a bit more with my fork to let it run some more and create a small puddle on my plate. I then pull apart my toast into small pieces and place it in the yolk puddle that has formed on the plate, allowing the pieces to soak up the yellowish substance like a sponge being placed in water. This is something I like to do whenever I have sunny side up eggs and toast. I started doing this one day after my dad made sunny side up eggs and toast for breakfast and the yolk accidentally got absorbed a bit by the toast and it was surprisingly good. Since then, I would start eating them this way. After letting the toast absorb the yolk enough, I start to munch down on the yolk-soaked pieces of bread and then quickly gulp down my glass of orange juice. Once I was done with everything, I push the now empty plate and cup through the bars and outside the cage.

Now that I've finished my breakfast, now what do I do? Am I really going to be stuck in this cage for three days? The first 24 hours haven't even passed yet and there's not really much to do in here to preoccupy myself. Normally I'd do some training, but I don't think my body will allow me right now. This will be a boring few days.

I decide to just lay myself back down and pull the warm, soft blanket back over me in hopes that I'll be able to catch up on some sleep. As I close my eyes, a gentle breeze blows through, causing me to pull the blanket more tightly around myself. It's a good thing Mari gave me this blanket. Although I'm still very wary of her.

As the breeze continued to blow through, I suddenly felt something light softly hit me in the back of the head. I turn over and see it was the note Mari left me that I crumpled up and tossed that was returning to me.

I give another sigh.

I just don't understand that girl.

* * *

Once again, night had overcome day as the blue canvas of the sky was overwhelmed by the black sheet of night. It was a very nothing day today really. I mean it's kind of hard to entertain yourself when neither your surroundings nor your body will let you. So instead I just laid down for a bit, got some extra sleep, and attempted-- emphasis on "attempted"-- to get some training in later as a form of physical therapy. My side still hurts but I was able to get a little bit of stuff in so long as I kept my movements slow and well-paced. Aside from that, that was pretty much it. I was honestly a bit surprised no bandits tried to interrogate me or whatever like when I first woke up here. My guess is Raven probably told them not to bother me or some crap like that, but that's only an unconfirmed theory.

Anyway, I'm starting to get hungry again. I honestly would really like to have dinner right now, but if it means seeing Mari again I think I'd rather starve. Especially considering she'll probably try to talk to me again. Speaking of which, she might be here any minute. I think I'll lay down for a bit and pretend I'm sleeping. I don't feel like interacting with her, especially after last night. Hopefully she'll see that I'm "asleep" and just leave the plate of food and go buzz off somewhere else.

I go grab the blanket Mari left me and move to the center of the cage with it, before curling up with my back facing the bars just in case she would try to shake me awake if she bought into my feigned slumber. Eventually, just a few minutes after I did this, I hear light footsteps approaching, obviously belonging to Mari. There's no way it couldn't be her. I continue to stick with my plan and pretend to sleep in the center of the cage. Hopefully she'll think I'm sleeping and buzz off. Once the footsteps get closer I hear the familiar voice begin to speak.

"Sorry I'm a little late. There was a drunken brawl. As usual, I made sure to heat your food up for you. Tonight is beans, rice, and chicken. Oh! And just like yesterday, it's tea to drink. So anyway, are you ready to--" She slowly cuts herself off as her voice quickly started to lose volume following each pause. She must have noticed that I'm "sleeping".

"Good. Now get out of he--"

"I know you're not asleep, Simin. Stop the faking and come over." She urges.

"Dammit!" I thought. "I thought that would work."

"Come on. Just come over and eat so we can talk alright? Let's just start over. We obviously got off on the wrong foot."

"Just ignore her and keep pretending to sleep. She'll eventually leave... I hope."

I eventually hear a bit of a thump on the ground like something was just set down. She must have just placed the food on by the cage.

"Is she actually about to leave? Is this actually going to wor--?"

I then hear another sound of something settling on the ground as well.

"She just sat down didn't she?"

(Sigh).

"I'm not going anywhere until you come over, Simin." She says with a tone that had a bit of firmness compared to yesterday. "So you can either lie there and starve all night or come over and eat and we can talk. Your choice, Simin."

"At least she's persistent. I'll give her that."

Just then, my stomach started to grumble as my body was urging me to cave and give in to her demands. I let out another sigh-- although this time, a mental one.

"Fine. Screw it!"

Accepting defeat, I eventually reluctantly get up and start walking toward the plate of food and her.

"Thank you, Simin. I knew you'd come around." She says with a relieved, yet somewhat sarcastic, tone.

"Are you happy now?!" I say with a bit of frustration due to allowing myself to cave in.

"Yes. Yes I am." She says with a calm tone and a bit of an accomplished grin spread across her face. "I'm sorry, Simin. But I had to." She apologized.

As soon as she finished her sentence, I then took a seat near the bars with the plate and began eating, neglecting to thank her. As I started to eat, I couldn't help but notice something strange about the food. It's still hot. I mean I know she said that she heated, but this feels like it was fresh out of the pot. Judging from the portion size, I can tell that she got me this toward the end of dinnertime, which means it should have been a bit cooler. I wonder how she was able to heat it up to this degree and so quickly too.

"Are you okay, Simin?" Mari asks, noticing the puzzled look on my face.

"What?" I say as I swallow a small mouthful of beans.

"You look bothered by something. Do you not like it?" She said with a bit of worry in her eyes.

"Y-yeah. It's fine." I dismiss her assumption. "I just... have a quick question."

"Ask away." She says gesturing her hand to me.

"How is my food this hot?" I ask out of curiosity.

"What do you mean? I just heated it up for you is all." She says a bit confused as she cocks her head to one side like a curious puppy.

"Yeah, but how?" I emphasize, hoping she would understand what I really wanted to know with my question.

"That's... not important right now." She says dismisfully, briefly avoiding eye contact as she spoke. "Look, I want to cut to the chase, okay? You and I got off on the wrong foot yesterday and--"

"And you want to make it up to me?" I interrupt, predicting the rest of her sentence. "Is that it? Is that why you wanted to talk? Is that why you're here?"

"Y-yes." She replies with a bit of a nervous tone as she probably had a feeling how this was going to go for her. 

Her eyes then wandered over my shoulder as she slightly tilted her head up to get a clearer view. She seemed to be fixated on something. Out of curiosity, I turn and I don't really see anything could have piqued her interest aside from the crumpled up piece of paper. That's probably what she's looking at.

"So I take it you read my note?" She asks with a bit of a somber voice as she gave a bit of a sad smile.

"Yep." I say as I go back to eating my food, trying to keep the talking to a minimum.

"Are you going to be this cold with me the whole time, Simin? I just want to talk. Please, can we just do that? That's all I want." She pleads, now with slight annoyance in her voice. I can tell she's getting a bit frustrated.

"Why did you come here?" I bluntly ask, changing the source of this conversation that has yet to even leave the station.

"I...just told you." She answers my question shifting from slightly annoyed to confused rather quickly as she didn't know where my question was coming from or where I was going with it.

"No. That's not what I meant. Why did you come here? You don't strike me as the type of person who does things independently of your own accord."

"Simin, what are you implying?" She asks, slowly starting to catch on.

"Raven put you up to this, didn't she?" I accuse her. "Sending you here to give me food and be nice toward me to put me under some false sense of security and lure me into joining her tribe so I can just be a tool at her disposal. That's the game isn't it?"

"No! That's not it at al! Simin." She hastily denies. "You're just overthinking this."

"Bullshit! Don't lie to me!" I shout antagonistically.

"I'm not lying!" She says, raising her voice. "I promise you that my kindness toward you has been genuine and honest. I swear. And as for Raven, I know she can be... a complicated and questionable person--"

"Way to sugarcoat it." I interrupt with a bit of sarcasm, showing that I'm not buying her crap.

"As I was saying..." She said slightly annoyed. "I know Raven can be complicated and questionable and all, but she really wants what's best for you at the end of the day. She knows that you'll die out there. That's why she gave you this ultimatum. She's giving you a second chance so you can live. Trust me. I know because I speak from both second and first-hand experience. For example, I once lost something that was very dear to me and Raven helped me and took me in. She's done the same for others here as well and she wants to do that for you too.

"And as for Raven herself, she doesn't want to use you as a tool. She just wants to help you. She saw your strength and she wants you to be able to hone it so that you can never lose again what you can regain through joining. And I'm trying to make you see that, but you're thinking irrationally. Raven just wants what's best for you at the end of the day."

"You mean what's best for her. Raven is probably just feeding these words to you just to regurgitate them at me. She could care less about me." I say, stubbornly.

"Just listen to me, Si--"

"I remember the first words you spoke to me when we first met yesterday: 'I was told to bring you your food.' 'I...was told...'. I know you are doing this all under orders so you don't have to keep pretending and trying to convince me you're not. I don't think I can bring myself to believe that a single word that has come out of your mouth or a single action that you've done for me has been genuine. How do I know that this is you speaking and doing these things and these are not just orders Raven gave you to lure me into a trap? Raven doesn't give damn about me and I doubt you do either. She didn't give you another chance at life. She made you throw away whatever little life you had left for her. And that's what she's trying to have you make me do too like a pawn."

There were a few seconds of silence after this.

"You want to know something, Simin?" Mari said, with a firm voice.

"No. I think I've heard eno--"

"Shut up! And listen!" She raised her voice with assertion. "Please."

Taken aback by her sudden burst of energy, I was left silent. I wasn't expecting that.

"Yes. I did give you your food yesterday under her orders, but that is the only thing you are right about. Let me tell you a secret, Simin: my orders were to specifically deliver your food and report back to Raven and that I was to not interact with you under any circumstances. And I have been disobeying those orders the second I uttered the first word to you. And do you want to know why? Because I want to show you that we can really be something for you if you let us.

"When you hurled that rock at me yesterday (which still hurts by the way) I reported back to Raven as instructed. I tried to hide the bump by adjusting my bangs to cover it, but Raven caught on quickly and discovered it. She immediately (and correctly) assumed it was you and she was... --well--... she was ready to kill you... until I stopped her that is and talked her out of it by telling her I just tripped and hit my head, which took some convincing. Despite what you did, I still covered for you. I saved your life last night and you had no idea. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have woken up this morning because you would have been dead. I even went as far as to give you my blanket straight from my tent to keep you and go out of my way to do small things like keep your food and drink heated to make sure you didn't freeze at night. Everything that I have done has been all me. I have been nothing but genuine and honest with you from the moment we met.

"You may think that I don't care, but I do. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here right now trying to talk some sense into you. I wouldn't be going out of my way to do these things for you. I would have just called it quits after last night and just let Raven kill you, but I didn't give up on you and I have no intentions of doing so. You think I want to see a child get thrown back out into the wilderness to die? Well I don't! I'm trying to help and save you, Simin, but you keep trying to push and drive me away. Every word that has come out of my mouth and every action that I have done has been genuine. And more importantly, everything that I have told you tonight has been nothing but the truth. Whether you choose to believe me or not is entirely up to you. But regardless, it will never change the fact that it is the truth. So You know what? I think I'm done talking now. Just...go to sleep. I'll go take your plate and cup, so just go to sleep. I'm done talking tonight.

"I'm just... I'm just tired and.... so frustrated right now. You've given up I can tell. You'd rather die than join us not just because you don't trust us, but mostly because of what you've lost. You're already prepared to die and throw your life away because you feel you have nothing left to lose. But that only gives me even more of a reason to not give up on you. I will keep trying and I will keep pushing until I've gotten through to you. I don't know what on Remnant I'm going to have to do to prove to you that I really do care and am just trying to help in any way that I can, but I'm here for you so long as you just let me. If you won't give Raven or the tribe a chance, then at the very least, give me a chance. Let me show you what it is we can offer you-- what we can give back. If you feel that you have nothing to lose, then we'll give you something to lose. Think about that when you fall asleep, okay?"

Without another word, Mari gets up, now empty plate and cup in her hands and takes them away as she storms off with a frustrated huff without even so much as glancing back at me.

I honestly don't know what to say. She really kinda went all out there didn't she?

I... I honestly feel bad now. I mean, I just kept antagonizing her and pushed her to that point. And if that's true that she did all those things for me of her own will and even protected me despite everything, then that just makes me a complete ungrateful asshole. She was just trying to be nice and I just... was just so terrible toward her. She gave me a chance and I gave her a rock to the head. And despite that, she still covered for me and continued to give me another chance. And I think it's fair that I give her one as well... at the very least.

I take a deep breath out of my nose as I just feel a bit mentally fatigued after that. I need to lay down and do some reflecting. I need to somehow make it up to her or make it a point to not be such an ass toward her. Tomorrow, I'll give her a chance-- the same chance she gave me as well as the chance she deserves.

Eventually through all my thinking and self reflecting, I close my eyes and fall asleep with her blanket wrapped around me and Bruno's bandana held to my chest.

* * *

The Next Day: September 18th:

"Ugh. Morning already?"

I slowly but surely was dragged out from my sleep as the light from the sun poked its way through the trees, the rays making their way to me and gently warming and bathing my face like a good morning kiss. In response, I pull up the blanket and shield my face.

"Just a bit longer, sun? Please? I'm not ready to wake up yet."

I hate morning fatigue. It's just such a disorienting feeling that makes you just want to lay back down and not get back up. I wish whenever we wake up in the morning, we could just not feel any fatigue and just be completely ready for the day and feel completely recharged. Then I wouldn't have to worry about morning fatigue anymore. But unfortunately, wishing for that is just setting myself up for disappointment.

After blocking the sun's rays from my face, I then noticed that there was something hitting me in the back of the neck. It felt like a slight breeze, but there was something that was strange about it. For starters, it felt very soft and warm. There was also a bit of a calm rhythm to it. With every time the breeze hit me, it was also accompanied by a very relaxed noise. Is that... breathing?

I turn around and see behind me, just outside the bars, Mari, sound asleep. Completely caught off-guard by this, it actually ended up startling me and caused me to jump a bit, again sending a wave of pain through my body due to my wounds... again.

"Agh! Dammit! Not again!" I shouted under my breath, careful not to wake her up.

It didn't hurt as much as yesterday, but it still definitely hurt enough to cause me to recoil. After recovering a bit, I look back at the sleeping girl to make sure I didn't accidentally wake her up.

Did she come back and stay with me the whole night after I fell asleep? I'm surprised she even came back, given the crap I put her through. But then again, she did say she wouldn't give up. 

She looks so peaceful curled up like that. But I can't help but also think of how uncomfortable she must be, sleeping out here with no pillow or blanket or anything. The only thing she was using as a substitute for a pillow was her own arm. She's just sleeping there on the hard, bare soil... just like I was on my first night. That got me thinking. Was she trying to empathize or level with me this way by essentially trying to put herself in my shoes or something? I have to respect that dedication of hers.

Anyway, aside from that she looks cold. Judging from how she's curled up, it must have been pretty chilly last night. I take Mari's blanket off of me and proceed to push it through the bars and wrap it around her. But right as I finish doing so, she begins to stir and slowly wakes up as she begins to speak with a groggy voice.

"Simin, what are you--"

"N-nothing!" I exclaim while panicking and hastily moving away from her, which caused some of the pain from earlier to return.

"Are you okay?" She said with a concerned tone (but still maintaining her grogginess) as she sat up and noticed the slightly pained look on my face.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I assure her. "I just aggravated my wounds a bit."

"Be more careful okay?" She advises. "So tell me what were you doing just now?"

"Nothing, I swear." I unconvincingly lied.

"Sure." She states while giving me a look that clearly stated she wasn't buying my obvious lie.

Knowing her, she probably won't let it go until I cave in just like last night.

"Okay fine." I cave in again. "You looked cold, so I was putting the blanket on you."

"Oh. Well thank you, Simin. That's very sweet and thoughtful of you." She responds as she pulls the blanket over her shoulders.

Due to her comment, I slightly nervously blushed from sheer awkwardness, due to the fact that I still felt bad about how I treated her the past two nights.

"So were you there all night?" I speak up while she gives a yawn, still trying to completely wake herself up, as the sunlight bounced off her long, purple hair.

"Hm?" She asks not fully hearing what I said.

"I said were you there all night?" I repeat.

"Yes." She bluntly answers.

"Why? Why did you spend all night here with me, especially after how I treated you? You didn't have to do that."

"I'm not going to give up on you, Simin." She answers as her groggy voice slowly disappears and becomes more awake. "You already know that by now. Also it was obvious to me that just talking wasn't going to help me get through to you so I thought maybe if I could show you that I care and am here for you by spending the night by your side so you wouldn't be alone, I'll get through to you. It was a bit of a gamble, I admit. I was getting desperate and was running out of ideas. I wasn't really too sure on how you would react."

"You're weird, you know that?" I comment with a slightly bantering tone.

"I'll take it." She gives a chuckle as she starts to get up and stretch and then removes some dead leaves from her hair and dust herself off. "I'll be back with your breakfast." She tells me as she turns and begins to walk off.

"Wait, Mari." I blurt out before she walks off.

"Is something wrong, Simin? Did you need something?" She asks with a bit of curiosity on her face as she turns again to face me.

Feeling ashamed, I look down. I need to apologize to her. She deserves an apology for how I treated her. Still looking down, I opened my mouth and started to speak.

"I... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For everything. I've been a total ass to you these past couple of nights. I yelled at you, I attacked your character, I hit you in the head with a rock, and accused you of lying to me, and other stuff and you didn't deserve any of it. I'm sorry, Mari. I'm really sorry and I promise I won't do that to you again." I hope that sounded sincere enough.

I was still looking down as I was afraid to look her in the eyes and was only met with silence as I anticipated Mari's response. The silence honestly made it a bit nerve wracking. Eventually, I could hear Mari's footsteps approach me as she eventually spoke up:

"Simin?"

"Y-yes?" I ask, nervous that she will decline my apology.

"Please look at me?"

I slowly look up and see her crouched at eye level with me with a soft smile as her emerald green eyes look into mine.

"I accept your apology." She says in a calm and quiet voice.

"Y-you do?" I honestly thought she would give me a cold shoulder or something.

"Yes, Simin. I do." She says as she reaches her slender arm through the bars and puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up too much, okay? I understand you were going through a lot. Don't get me wrong though. I'm not saying that excuses it. But what I am saying is not to worry. I forgive you." She says before turning to leave.

"Oh! Mari. One more thing."

"Yes, Simin?" She says turning back around.

"Do you think we could maybe eat together today and talk?"

"Of course. Now I'm going to get our breakfast, okay?"

" 'our'?" I ask, wondering if I misheard her.

"Yeah. You literally just asked if we could eat together remember?"

"Oh right. Sorry." I say blushing at the embarrassment and awkwardness of my own forgetfulness.

I guess I'm just not used to interacting with people like this in such a casual or friendly manner. It's been a bit of a while since Dorado. I've been so used to being alone lately, that I sort of forgot what it was like to have friendly conversations like this with someone. Although it's not like I had many conversations to begin with. I was always a pretty shy and awkward kid even before I stopped talking for a while. The only person I ever had full conversations with ease with was my mom. She always knew how to make even the most introverted of people open up around her (which is probably how she ended up marrying my dad).

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." She says with a giggle and smile aimed at my slight embarrassment before turning around to get our food, disappearing as she reaches the corner.

I wonder how long it'll take her until she comes back with the food. My body actually feels a bit better today. I guess I'll take this chance and get some kind of training in before she returns. I just need to remember to take it easy. I slowly get up, using the bars to pull myself. I do a few stretches and practice while I wait.

A few minutes later:

"I'm back!" She says in a bit of sing-songy voice.

I immediately stopped what I was doing and walked over so we could eat.

"Thank you." I say as I sit down and look at my plate of food. I then looked over at her plate as she was sitting down and noticed it was about half as full as mine-- maybe even less.

"Where's the rest of your food?" I ask. Maybe she ate some on the way back?

"They were out of a lot so I gave you half of mine to fill your plate."

"You didn't have to do that, Mari."

"I know. But I care, remember?" She says, slightly poking fun at me for questioning her character last night.

"Was that a jab?" I respond a bit light-heartedly.

"Maybe." She says as the corners of her mouth give a slight grin.

"Well at least you're upfront." I respond as we both share a small, short laugh.

A couple moments of silence pass as we both take a bite of our breakfast. Eventually, Mari would continue the conversation.

"So I take it your body's holding up pretty well?" She asks, checking up on my recovery.

"Yeah. My body hurts a lot less than it did yesterday or two days ago. I even got some more mobility back."

"That's good to hear. Sounds like you're making a surprisingly quick recovery, which is even better to hear. Raven and I went through a bit of trouble and a lot of bandages to save you."

"Thank you." I simply answer.

"You're very welcome, Simin. It was a close call, but you came through... obviously, considering we're literally having a conversation about it." She muttered the last part, but I was still able to hear it.

Another few seconds of silence once again passed.

"I feel so awkward right now. Gods, I am such a bad conversationalist! I feel like I'm supposed to say something here, but I'm not sure what. Is this the part where we segue into another subject?"

"So Simin, who taught you how to fight?" She changes the subject before taking a sip from her cup.

"Well that answers my question."

"Oh. You saw me practicing?" I ask slightly flustered as I had no idea anyone could see me.

"Mhm." She says as she brings her cup up to her lips before taking a sip.

"My dad taught me everything I know." I answer her initial question. "We started training when I was about 5 years old and we did it every night since. He would never go easy on me though, but he would still be merciful enough that I could stand a chance. It was almost like he was a completely different person whenever we would train. But I am thankful for it though because the intensity of our sessions toughened me up a lot. He even taught me some survival skills like how to wield and load a weapon, how to hunt and prepare certain prey, and other stuff. He's the main reason why I've been able to survive out here for as long as I have... well that and a bit of luck as well."

"Oh so that explains it. Your dad must have been very strong then, I take it." She correctly assumes.

"Yeah. He was the guardian of our village and he protected it by himself for over a decade."

"By himself?" Mari says with audible surprise in her voice as her eyes slightly widened along with her eyebrows raising.

"Yeah. I've seen him single-handedly take on and defeat bandit raids and entire grimm hordes almost effortlessly. I always looked up to him and wanted to be as strong as him someday. But then our village fell." I say skipping an obvious detail due to not wanting to revisit that memory of seeing my father's lifeless corpse. "And after that' I've been mostly on my own since."

"So how long were you out there until Raven grabbed you?" She asks a follow up question.

"About a month and a half." I answer.

"That long?!" She says with surprise. "Your dad taught you well then. But still, I can't believe a child like you was out there for so long."

"Yeah. I wouldn't believe it either if I heard it as well." I say, empathizing with her shock. "But it's the truth."

"I believe you." Mari assures me as the silence from earlier returns as if it were routine.

Mari then started to swirl her cup in her hands as if she had something on her mind like she wanted to ask me with a bit of an unsure look in her eyes. Eventually after some thinking, she let the question out.

"So, Simin... " She speaks up. "I noticed you never told me anything else about your dad. What happened to him?"

Instead of answering, I quickly grew silent and clammed up as I stared down at the drink in my hand, not wanting to revisit that memory. Mari then noticed the somber expression face and instantly felt regret for bringing it up.

"I'm sorry, Simin. I... I didn't meant to--... I wasn't thin--"

"It's okay Mari." I cut her off. "Don't worry about it. I'm just...not ready to revisit that okay?"

"I understand."

To get my mind off of it, I go back to eating my breakfast as I begin to pull apart the toast (which wasn't as burnt as yesterday's) and place into the running yolk of my egg.

"Hm." I heard Mari say as if she were fixated on something happening that was strange to her.

"What is it?" I say looking up at Mari whose eyes were fixated on my plate with a curious look on her face as she cocked her head to one side.

"I've never seen someone do that before." She then points her finger at the yolk-soaked bread sitting on my plate.

"Really?"

"I mean I've had eggs and toast before, but not like this." She comments. "Is it good?"

"I think it's good." I give her my subjective opinion. "You should try it."

"Uhh... I don't know." She spoke a bit apprehensively.

"But you might like it." I urge her to try.

"Hmm. Okay, I'll give it a try." She caves in after some contemplation.

I take a piece of yolk soaked bread from my plate and hand it to her as she takes it with her thumb and forefinger. I then watch in anticipation as she places it in her mouth and begins to chew. As she was eating it, her eyes started to move around almost like she was having a mental conversation with herself on whether she likes this strange breakfast combo or hates it.

"Hmm." She says with pursed lips and eyes pointed downward after finishing as she was about to give her final verdict.

"So what do you think?" I ask, hoping she liked it.

"I think you're weird too." She teases, calling back to earlier as we share another laugh (although in my case I was laughing through the disappointment).

Once again, just like clockwork, another period of awkward silence befell us, but this time, I would be the one to break it.

"I've... been doing some thinking when I was training-- about Raven's offer."

"Aaand...?" Mari leaned close as she was anticipating what I would say next.

"Is it true? That Raven really helped give you and others here a second chance at life? That she's just trying to help me at the end of the day? Are you all actually family to her and not just pawns?"

"Of course it's true Simin. I know you may not trust Raven much, but she really just wants to help you. And the fact that she spared your life and gave you a second chance, should be proof enough. Everything that's going on in your head right now..." She says as she taps the side of my head. "... --all your doubts and mistrust--, though understandable, are untrue. That's paranoia speaking. That's irrationality speaking. Don't listen to it. I promise you that you have nothing to worry about."

Still feeling unsure, I drop my head forward to look at the ground and contemplate. As I did so, I felt Mari's hand stop me midway and raise my head back up by my chin.

"Simin, will you trust me?" She says with genuine eyes and voice.

After a few seconds of thinking, I gave my answer:

"Yes." I simply stated, to which Mari smiled as that meant I had finally let her in and felt no need to keep my guard up around her anymore.

"Then trust me when I say, everything will be alright." She said more quietly as she placed both of her hands on my shoulders.

"Okay." I give a slight nod.

"Good." She responded with a warm smile.

"But..." I continue. "I still want to think about it some more if that's okay. I just want to weigh the pros and cons is all."

"Your time isn't unlimited you know?" She says with a sigh as she sounded slightly disappointed.

"I know." I said, fully understanding my situation.

After that our conversation ended as we both eventually finished our breakfasts.

"Are you finished, Simin?" Mari asked me with her hand out, ready to take my plate and cup

"Mhm." I nod as I down the last bit of food.

"All right. I'll go take your plate and cup for you then." With that, she then gets up with both of our cups and plates in her hands. "The others were all talking about something when I was getting our food that made me curious."

"What was it about?" I ask her curiously.

"I don't know." She answered. "Something about a village. I was going to ask around to find out what the talk is all about."

"Be sure to fill me in please." I look up to her.

"Sure thing, Simin. See you at dinner!" She says as she walks off and disappears behind the corner, both plates and cups in her hands.

Well... now that I'm alone again, I'm going to get some more training in.

* * *

Later That Night:

"Hmm. I wonder what's taking Mari so long today. She's running a bit late-- a bit later than yesterday even. I hope she didn't run into any trouble. Wait. Could it be that Raven found out she's been interacting with me and punished her for it? I really hope that isn't the case."

Just as I finished my internal monologue, I heard the familiar footsteps of Mari as she reared the corner with two plates and cups in her hands, giving me an instant feeling of relief as my concerns were proven incorrect. But there was something off-putting about her step. She had a different demeanor than earlier and wore a sullen expression on her face.

"Hey, Simin. Here's your dinner." She says a bit solemnly.

I'd ask her what's the matter, but I don't want to immediately jump to that yet in case of the off chance it catches her off guard and causes her to clam up.

"Thank you. You have enough for yourself this time, right?" I ask, making sure she didn't neglect herself this time.

"Yeah. Don't worry." She says, maintaining her gloomy demeanor as we start eating-- more specifically as I started eating. I noticed she wasn't eating much though and was barely touching her food.

"Is she okay? Did she actually get in trouble or something? What happened that completely changed her mood from this morning?"

"So Simin..." She speaks up again. "I don't want to sound like I'm rushing you, but don't forget that tomorrow is decision day." Mari reminds me.

"I know, Mari. Don't worry." I assure her. "I promise I'll have a decision by tomorrow morning."

"Okay. I should also let you know that tomorrow, to give your decision, you will be taken to Raven's tent. That will be around noon." The worried girl informs me.

"Thank you for the heads up." I say with a chuckle to add some lightheartedness to the conversation.

"Simin. Please be careful with your words in there." She urged, taking my chuckle as a lack of seriousness toward the situation. "I don't know what it was you said to her two days ago, but Raven seemed a bit heated after she came back from talking to you."

"Don't worry Mari." I assure her again, still remembering how the last conversation I had with Raven went.

"I mean it, Simin." She then flashes me the same worried and concerned look she gave me when she was here with Raven and the other girl whose name is slipping my mind at the moment on my first day here. She seems so stressed today. "Whatever you say in there tomorrow will determine what comes next, whether that is your fate or your future. So please promise that you'll be careful tomorrow?"

"Okay. I promise I'll be careful, Mari. Please don't worry. Trust me. I learned my lesson." I say trying to relieve her of whatever stress she might be feeling.

"Okay." She says with a heavy exhale.

Even though she seems to have calmed down a bit, she still looks really shaken. I think it's time I ask her about whatever has her so rattled today. I stop eating and ask her what's wrong.

"Are you okay, Mari? Is something bothering you?" I ask, giving her a concerned look similar to the one she gave me a few seconds ago.

"I'm fine, Simin." She unconvincingly tries to assure me. "Just a bit worried about tomorrow is all."

"I can tell there is something else on your mind, Mari. Your demeanor is completely different than how it was this morning. What happened today that has you so shaken up compared to this morning?"

"You're very observant." She compliments. "Not a lot gets past you does it?"

"Nope." I say bluntly. "Also, you're not a very good liar."

"Well okay then." She gives a slight chuckle of her own before bringing her demeanor back to the somberness she had just recently adopted.

"Simin? Before you ended up here, do you mind telling me where it was you were heading? What was your destination?" She sounded almost like she was afraid of the answer and was bracing herself.

"Kuroyuri." I tell her. "I was heading to Kuroyuri. Why do you ask?"

Mari simply looked away with a bit of a deep breath like she got the answer she knew she was going to get, but didn't want.

"I thought so." She says somberly as she nods to herself. Mari, who was still sitting, then spun herself around as she leaned her back against the bars and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Simin, listen closely." She muttered with a very serious tone Though she was muttering her words, they were still more than audible enough for me to hear. "I just found out today from the others... that Kuroyuri--... Kuroyuri was just recently destroyed in a grimm attack."

I couldn't believe the words that registered in my ears as I was completely shocked by the sudden tragic news.

"What?! B-but how?! When?! When did this happen?"

"It happened a couple nights ago." She answers. "The entire village was sacked in a single night. They didn't stand a chance. I couldn't find out if there were any survivors though, so I have no clue if there even are any. I'm really sorry to tell you this, Simin."

I was absolutely floored upon hearing this. To think that's where I was trying to go after Oniyuri. I should be relieved that I basically and accidentally dodged a bullet, but I can't. Not after knowing what happened to those people. Their home is destroyed and most of them are most likely dead or probably wish they were dead if any managed to survive. It's just like Dorado all over again. Only this time, it's them that are going through what I went through.

Dorado, Oniyuri, and now Kuroyuri. All (in some way, shape, or form) have fallen victim to the grimm. Whether it fell due to abandonment or attack, the grimm are responsible. It made me think back to the screams of terrified people as a horde of grimm closed in on them, eager to rip them to shreds as those screams would soon be overcome by the sounds of those monsters celebrating their kills. The cries of children who were scared and alone as they got separated from their parents in the chaos as their little hearts were filled to the brim and overflowing with fear before having their short lives quickly snuffed out. The weak and elderly who were unable to even run and fight back as they can only watch as the grimm lurched closer and closer, ready to write the last chapter of their lives with their blood. Those people lost their homes, their families, and, for most of them, their lives. They all just went through what I went through. Something no one should ever have to go through in the first place! What kind of messed up world is this?! Why must the world be so cruel and merciless-- especially toward those who have done nothing to receive such cruelty and mercilessness?

All I could do then was just sit down with Mari, back against the cold, metal bars right where she was sitting and leaning her back on, and assume the same position she was in as I pulled my knees to my chest as well. If there were no bars, we'd be back-to-back right now. Despite the cold steel barrier between us, I could still feel her body generating heat as it was emanating and breaking through the barrier and providing a somewhat comforting warmth.

"Mari?" I quietly speak up. "What kind of world are we living in?"

"A far from perfect one, Simin. I can tell you that much." She answers just as quietly with a heavy exhale.

I still can't believe another village has been destroyed. The fact that I know what all those people went through (especially the survivors if there are any) only makes it feel that much worse. I'd cry, but my eyes are completely dry. The world took all the tears I had out of me for the time being. I just don't think I can produce any tears right now, even if I tried.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as I then I felt a comforting, warm, soft hand rest on mine.

"Are you going to be okay, Simin?" Mari asks comfortingly, still in the position she adopted when she sat down. With my eyes still vacant of any tears, I respond in a monotonous, calm voice.

"Yes. I think I'll be okay."

I'm going to have to be. This is the world we live in after all. It's only that I think I had just learned to fully accept it.

*CHAPTER END*

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Hey, everyone! 

Out of all the chapters, this was definitely one of the hardest ones to write, if not the hardest. This is also one of the two chapters I have the most mixed feelings toward. (Chapter 11 I have a lot of mixed feelings with, but we'll see what I mean by that in a couple weeks). 

When I first started writing this chapter, it was originally meant to be divided into three separate chapters. But when I was revising it a while back, I thought to myself, "Wait. What am I thinking? No one is going to want to sit through three chapters straight of the same two people just sitting and talking in the same exact spot. That would be incredibly mundane." So I thought that the best thing to do was to compact it into one big chapter. However, I believe this decision might be a bit of a double-edged sword. By compacting it into one chapter, the plot progresses more quickly and keeps from getting too dull. But on the other hand, by doing that, I also run the risk of possibly rushing the development of the bond between Mari and Simin.

This was also probably the most heavily edited chapter this volume. This final cut is very, very different than the original version. Since this was one of the largest dialogue only chapters in the volume as well as my first time writing a dialogue of this size, there were a lot of things that I scrubbed out, added in, or moved around. Here are a couple of the things I ended up taking out of the chapter:

1\. There was going to be an exchange where Simin tells Mari that he wanted to kill Raven. Even though I thought it would be a pretty cool and interesting concept for a plot, it didn't really fit with the overall story I wanted to tell for this volume and would have required me to make a drastic change on Simin's character and the plot. This is meant to be the act where Simin is supposed to bounce back from what he went through and I thought having Simin plot to kill Raven would have sort of undone and contradicted most of that. (However they will have their rematch with when the time comes)

2\. I was also going to have Simin plan on joining Raven's tribe with the intent on making it past the Winter and leaving when Spring came, but I took that out because it would have been shot down anyway when Mari breaks the news to him so it would have been a bit pointless to introduce a possible plot point like that only to just straight up canonically scrap it within the narrative.

Also I want to give a heads up for next chapter and it's kinda sort of a spoiler so if you don't want a spoiler, then just skip this paragraph. In the next chapter, I will be sort of reintroducing aura and semblances. But I'm going to change some things. For starters, I'm taking out the rule that aura can protect you from cold and keep you warm. The reason why is because I want to make Winter clothes when the time comes. Literally, that is the only reason. I just want some Winter clothes. I'm also coming up with a rule that passive semblances (i.e. Qrow's misfortune semblance) do not require aura to function and can still work despite the user having no aura left and that passive semblances are unlocked the moment the user of said passive semblance is born. My reasons for making up this rule specifically has to do with the fight between Tyrian vs Qrow in Volume 4 where his bad luck was still in effect despite his aura having been broken in that fight (hence why Qrow yelled at Ruby for jumping into the fight, to which Ruby responds with "This is my fight too!" and then Qrow responds with "No it's not that.", which was him referring to his bad luck semblance even though his aura had already broken, which lead to me coming up with the theory that passive semblances don't take aura to use and are completely independent of it). I'll elaborate more in chapter 11 on the other things. It will for the most part be like how it is in the series, but I just want to make some very, very minimal tweaks for now. However, I will be expanding much more on aura in Volume 2 and do some of my own things with it that I think are more out there, but that is something I will save for another time.

Also next chapter, we'll get another oc of mine. You'll either love her or hate her because she's meant to be a bit of a minor comedic character and I have never really written a comedic character before, so this will be interesting for both of us. Her backstory is also depressing as hell and we will find that out when we get to the anthology chapters. Anyway, I felt I needed a minor comedic character to add some emotional balance to the story and bring a bit of light-heartedness in it considering everything that's happened in the first half of this volume, which has been nothing short of a tragedy so far for Simin. Now I have no idea why I'm bringing this up now, but I guess it's because I'm a little nervous on how she might be received. In case anyone doesn't know, it's the compulsive gambler who sucks at gambling I brought up in last chapter's notes. Anyway, I hope you'll like her when we meet her.

Fun Fact #10: The very last scene where Mari and Simin sat back to back with the bars between them was a last minute addition. Also Mari's last name is Varep. I made that her last name for a specific reason.


	11. Volume I: Chapter XI: Second Chances and First Impressions:

[KLANG!] [KLANG!]

A loud metallic clanging suddenly rings, disturbing my sleep.

"Ugh! What is that sound?" I think to myself as I start to stir a bit after being woken up. "Just let me sleep some more please?"

I quietly groan to myself as I pull the blanket over my face and cover my ears in an attempt to maybe muffle the sound to reclaim whatever extra sleep was just robbed from me. But a few seconds later...:

[KLANG!] [KLANG!]

"Damn! There's that noise again! Just let me sleep already!"

Just then, an unfamiliar female voice made its presence known to me.

"Kid, I swear I'm not doing this a third time! Next time, I'm just going to march into that cage and drag your ass with me. Now get up! I'm losing my patience!" Commanded the voice.

Who is that? I may be tired, but one thing's for sure, that's not Raven's voice and that definitely isn't Mari's either. Who is the owner of this new voice I'm hearing?

I slowly uncover my face, causing my eyes to squint due to the sudden change of darkness to brightness as the beams of light assault my vision. After shading my face from the rays, I look in the direction of the owner of the voice. It was hard to see at first due to my eyes adjusting to the sunlight, but I was able to make the figure out. It's that brown haired girl with the blue eyes who was next to Raven and Mari on the day I was captured. What was her name again? I can't remember. I only heard Raven say it once, but it began with a "V".

"Where's Mari?" I ask in my groggy voice, still waking up. I was a bit confused to see the other girl here and not Mari since, for some reason, I was under the impression that Mari would be the one escorting me considering she was the one that informed me of what was going to happen today. But clearly, I am wrong.

"Doesn't matter." The brown-haired girl responds with a blunt dismissal. "I was ordered to escort you to Raven's tent, so get up. She doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Oh shit!"

The realization hit me like a charging goliath: I meant to think more about my decision last night so that I would come in already knowing what I was going to pick. But I was so hung up on the news of Kuroyuri, that I forgot to go over it in my head.

My eyes widen as I let out a sharp, yet faint, gasp as my heart quickened its pace a bit. I quickly picked myself and may as well have leapt to my feet, considering the speed at which I did it. The pain from my movements didn't affect me as much this time either as the pain quickly grew less and less in the past few days. I ended up chalking it up to just adrenaline since there is no other explanation that I know of that could have contributed to the pain from my wounds to lessen so quickly. Afterall, wounds as severe as the ones that I have shouldn't heal that fast, do they?

Before letting her know I was ready to step out, I made sure to brush myself off of whatever dirt or leaves that were on me. My nerves are a bit shot right now, due to me forgetting to go over my choices last night. Now I need to come up with one fast in the little frame of time that I have. On the bright side though, at least now I'm fully awake, so I don't have to worry about any morning fatigue (even though it's noon) affecting my thinking.

"Ready?" She asks with a bit of haste in her voice.

"Yeah. I think so." I confirm, a tad bit nervous.

As soon as I finish, the brown-haired girl pulls out a rusty set of keys and unlocks the cage, opening the door as it lets out a loud, metallic creak as it scrapes on its hinges. After seeing the door open for the first time, I step out, and place myself on the other side of the bars, finally free... or at least, free from the cage, that is. Just being on the outside of the cage felt like taking a huge breath of fresh air. After being stuck in there for about three days, I can safely conclude that I never want to go back in there again. It was just... so dull!

"Alright let's get going. We're already running late." She said gesturing to me to go ahead to our destination.

"Right." I comply.

As soon as I pass her, she turns and follows suit behind me, placing her hand on my back to guide me from behind

As we turn the corner and leave the secluded area of the cage, we step out into an open area where I could finally get a good look at the camp. From the way the perimeter wall was shaped, the camp sort of resembled a large oval. The center was a pretty wide open area with a hole dug in the middle to which I assume was mainly for bonfires or probably where the cooking is done. There were also tents of all shapes and sizes stitched together from blankets and animal hides lined up all around the perimeter wall, some of which sat around the edge of the open area we were in with empty crates lying about, which were probably used as makeshift chairs and tables.

"We're going to the large tent over there." The girl says, pointing with her head, as she slightly hurries me forward in the direction of a large black tent at the end of the camp that completely dwarfed all the other tents, which I can only assume to be Raven's.

On each side of what I assume to be Raven's tent, there were two other smaller tents that were still noticeably bigger than all the others. I assume those two tents belonged to Mari and the girl taking me to Raven. Speaking of Mari, I wonder where she is right now. I haven't seen any sign of her since stepping out. As I look over at one of the two medium sized tents, I focus my sights on the one to the right and see the curtains slightly flinch. So that's where she is.

(Sigh).

Of course she's monitoring me. Does she think I'm inept or something? She worries too much. I promised her I would be careful.

Anyway, tucked behind Mari's and the other girl's tents respectively sat one long tent each, but were slightly poking out. Judging from the shape of the tent compared to the others, they probably served an auxiliary role and their position in the camp must mean they are pretty important. If I had to guess, one is probably for medical supplies while the other one is probably for food. Can't say which is for what though.

As I got a look around the place, scanning my environment, I also got a good look at the people as well. Mostly there were just bandits, some of which I recognized from the day I was captured as they all snuck brief glances at me and the girl guiding me as I walked by. To my right, I could hear a slight commotion and saw a group of people cheering and shouting from the corner of my eye. Out of curiosity, I slightly slowed pace and turned my head in the direction of the noise. There were two men by an old, brown crate, one on each side, engaged in an intense arm wrestling match as a small group of spectators were standing around them cheering for one or the other and making bets on who would win. Judging from the redness and strain on their faces and the beads of sweat forming on their heads, they've probably been going at it for a while. I wonder how I would do in that. As I let myself get distracted, I feel my guide's hand nudge me forward, almost causing me to stumble and snap me out of my brief daze.

As our walk to Raven's tent resumed its initial pace, we also ended up passing by another group of bandits who were sat by the entrance of a random tent, huddled around a deck of cards as each one held a hand of their own. After every few seconds, one of them would occasionally glance at each other as each player around the circle took a card from their hand and dropped it into a messy pile in the center of them. As we passed by, one of them, who I assumed to be the dealer, spotted Vernal.

"Hey, Vernal!" Waved a girl with a little bit of energy in her voice and movement. "You want in on this? This round's about to end, so I can deal you in if you don't mind waiting a few minutes." She offered as we walked by.

"Vernal! That's her name! I knew it began with a 'V'!"

On another note, I recognize that voice. That was the bandit that was betting on whether I was dead or alive when I woke up in the cage. She looked to be about 18 years of age. She had shoulder length, dark midnight blue hair, which was styled in a ponytail that stemmed from the middle of the back of her head and hung over the back of her neck. However, she still had two long locks of hair that fell down each side of her head in front of her ears, framing her face, as they dropped down to her collar bone. She also had a beige tone to her skin and hazel eyes that seemed to have a bit of a playfulness to them, but more in a childlike or mischievous way. On her face, around the corner of her left eye, I could see she had a small, curved, vertical scar that was about an inch (2.5 centimeters) in length. I guess if you're a gambler, you're probably bound to at least get into a few physical altercations, but something tells me this girl has been in way more than just a few.

She also sported a black compressed sleeve with reddish tints toward the bottom on her left arm that only covered her forearm, stopping at her elbow. She also had an unbuttoned dark blue vest that was a slightly brighter in shade compared to her hair. It had an opened breast pocket with a golden button on it, which led me to think that she is probably the owner of the deck of cards they were playing with. Under the vest, she had a sleeveless, dark gray undershirt. Given the amount of faded dark brownish spots on the front of her undershirt, something tells me she most likely prefers wearing her vest unbuttoned all the time.

For her legs she wore a pair of jean shorts that were cut off around her mid-thigh. They had a shade of green that resembled the color of seaweed. She also had a dark brown holster that wrapped around her hips and drooped toward her right leg with a pistol poking out if it. She also wore a pair of mud brown boots which were black around the soles and the toes and heel. Just from her greeting toward Vernal and how she dresses, she seems to come across to me as someone who is laid back and somewhat casual. However, as I stated earlier, her eyes give me a bit of a playful or mischievous vibe.

"I'll pass this time, Phi." Vernal declined. "I have to take this kid to Raven. So I'll get back to you later." She says, gesturing to me as we both continue walking.

"Alright, suit yourself." She says, purposely exaggerating the disappointment in her voice and expression in a way that she still maintains a somewhat playful tone.

"And besides, you still owe me from last time." Vernal says, poking fun at something that I am most definitely out of the loop on.

"Oh! Uh... You-- You still remember that?" Sophia says, rubbing the back of her neck with a nervous laugh and evasive eyes as she gave a toothy grin, clearly visibly uncomfortable and a bit embarrassed as her face adopted a reddish hue.

"How could I forget?" Vernal says, capitalizing on Sophia's embarrassed reaction. "I remember it down to the last digit." Vernal says as we both continue our journey to Raven's tent.

"Who was that?" I turn my head to ask Vernal mainly just to have some conversation so I don't have to stay awkwardly silent as we walk on.

"Just Sophia." Vernal responds as we continue our walk. "Terrible gambler, but also a good friend of mine. Although she can be a pain in the ass sometimes, I'll admit. But her loyalty more than makes up for that--"

Suddenly, we hear a loud, low creak from behind us that seemed to get the attention of everyone within earshot. Even Vernal stopped for a couple seconds to look back, to which I followed suit.

"Oh! They're back. They took down that caravan faster than I thought." Casually said by one of the male bandits playing the card game, who was looking up from his hand of cards while one next to him took the opportune moment to cheat via a not-so-subtle, over-the-shoulder peek at his hand.

Curious to know where the noise is coming from as well, I look back to be greeted by the sight of a group of bandits entering through a large wooden gate that was in the process of opening. They were all carrying supplies with them—some carrying sacks or rolling barrels filled with goods and supplies while others lugged entire crates on their shoulders.

"So this is what I am considering being a part of, huh? My new 'family'?"

After she got a glimpse of what came through the gates, Vernal resumes the walk as she continued pushing me forward and we reach the entrance to Raven's tent a few seconds later.

"Here we are." Vernal says gesturing me to step in.

I couldn't help but hesitate a bit as I was fully aware of the environment I am about to enter as well as who was waiting for me on the other side. I guess you could compare it to the feeling you get when you stand at the edge of a cliff and look directly down before throwing yourself into the water below. It was a feeling of anxiety.

As I took a couple seconds to hesitate and gather my bearings a bit, I then felt the hand Vernal had against my back suddenly nudge me forward as I stumbled into the tent before she stepped in after me. After glancing back at Vernal with a bit of an annoyed expression, which she luckily did not notice, I then turn my head to face in front of me and there, staring back at me on the opposite end of the tent, arms crossed and leaning back on a desk with a large map of Remnant above it, was none other than the bandit leader herself: Raven.

"Here's the kid, Raven. Sorry to keep you waiting." Vernal says, adopting a somewhat subservient tone and demeanor. Much different than the one she used when waking me up and when talking to that Sophia girl. You could almost describe it as one a subordinate would only adopt when speaking to their boss.

"Thank you, Vernal. That's all for now. You're dismissed. I'll let you know if I need anything else." Raven responded.

Vernal then stepped out, shooting me a quick look that warned me to watch what I say around Raven, leaving just me and the bandit leader alone in the tent. And just like that, the atmosphere completely changed. My heart suddenly started beating a bit quickly again as my pulse started to slightly quicken. I couldn't help but get a feeling of nervousness and unease around her, especially after how our last two exchanges went (one of which left me unconscious). I've definitely learned my lesson with Raven. For the time being, she isn't that I stand any chance against in a fight.

"Would you like to take a seat?" Raven asked, gesturing to a small table sitting on the floor in the center of the tent atop two large rugs. On both sides of the table, there sat a small ceramic cup of tea, a teapot acting as a wedge between the two, with a red cushion for sitting accompanying each side of the table. two cups of tea on it and one red cushion on both sides for sitting.

"Yeah. Sure." I try to casually say as I walk over, attempting to keep a cool exterior.

I then take a seat on one of cushions at the table with Raven following suit as she sits down on the side opposite of me. Ever since my last interaction with her as well as seeing how the other bandits acted around her when I was in the cage, I can't help but notice this menacing aura about Raven. To be frank, it's honestly intimidating. It feels like I'm sitting this close to someone who can end my life in the blink of an eye and the fact that she most likely can doesn't help either. Is this really someone who just wants to help me like Mari said? Not once in my entire life have I encountered someone with this much power and authority, who carried themself in a way that just their presence alone is enough to make me feel this way. Which makes me wonder something: is she respected here or is she feared? I guess time will only be able to provide the answer to that question.

To try and calm my nerves a bit, I take a sip of my tea. It's temperature is very lukewarm, which means she must have been waiting for a good bit.

"It would have been warmer if you had gotten here earlier." Raven initiates the conversation and breaking the silence between us.

Anxiously waiting for her to get to the chase, I just sat there quietly. But after realizing that ignoring her wouldn't help my chances here, eventually decide to speak up, but about something that's been clawing at the back of my head for a while that I haven't addressed yet.

"Where are my weapons?" I nervously ask, changing the subject .

"They're in that chest over there." Raven answers as she briefly directs her gaze at a large chest beside the desk. "I kept them in there in case of the off chance that you would have escaped and tried to kill me in my tent while I slept or anyone else here. A precautionary measure, but I'm sure you understand."

I silently took another sip of my tea.

"I take it Mari treated you well?" Raven asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"What is her game?! Why hasn't she gotten to the chase yet? The anticipation is killing me! Is she trying to ease me into it or is she just toying with me? Just calm down and play along, Simin."

"Yes." I answer, going with the flow of our talk.

"And would I be correct to assume that you treated Mari well?" Raven followed up, with a bit of a look that said she already suspected the answer I would give.

Hearing this question struck me with a feeling of guilt as I thought back to the first couple interactions I had with Mari, especially about how I struck her in the head with a rock when we first met. Even though Mari and I are past that now, it's still embarrassing to look back on because of how unfairly I treated her. I need to be very careful with how I answer this. I remember what Mari said about her covering for me and why she did, so I need to remember my promise to her.

"Yes. I was a bit on edge at first, but she helped." I answer, technically not lying, but not telling the full truth either.

"That's good to hear." She responded with a slight smirk as she took a sip from her tea before continuing. "You should be happy she stood up and covered for you when she did."

Upon hearing those words, my heart started to beat faster as my expression became extremely nervous because that means she knows what happens.

"I'm not an idiot and I most certainly am not gullible. Not to mention Mari is a horrible liar, so I picked it up almost immediately. I know what happened. But seeing her try so hard to defend you was just enough to make me consider sparing you. In any other scenario, anyone who makes any act toward Mari with the intent to harm her would pay dearly regardless of whether they are a part of the tribe or not; although, those who aren't a part of the tribe who harm her normally pay with their lives. So consider yourself incredibly lucky."

I honestly had no response to that. I can't tell whether this is just her way of conversing to ease my nerves some more or if she's just trying to intimidate me more. If it's the former, then she's not very good at it. But I'm not going to dare say that to her face.

"You know kid, I don't believe I ever got your name. Who are you?" She asked me, taking another sip.

"Simin Megistus." I answer with a bit of a quiet tone.

"What was that? Speak up. I didn't quite catch that." She requested.

"My name is Simin Megistus." I repeated.

"Simin, huh?"

"Ye--agh!" I accidentally agitated my wound a bit when I reached for the cup of tea, causing me to give a bit of a surprised yelp as it surprised more than it actually hurt me.

"So, Simin, how are your injuries treating you?" Raven asked, changing the subject after seeing my reaction.

"They don't hurt as much as a couple days ago, I'll admit. They feel a lot better to be honest. But I can still feel a bit of pain." I say placing my hand on my side around where the wound is.

"You mind if I take a look at them?" Raven as she stands up and heads toward a barrel near the chest that my weapons were kept in. Assuming she was going to check regardless of my answer, I just went with it.

"Um... okay." I say, still with some unease in my voice as I stand up and lift up my shirt so Raven can take a look. As I do that, Raven opens the barrel and grabs some fresh bandages before returning to me.

"I'm also going to change your bandages while I'm at it." She bluntly tells me.

Raven then crouches down and slowly starts unravelling the dirty, bloody bandages wrapped around my midsection. With every round she made removing the bandages, they gradually grew redder and redder as she slowly made her way down to my wound lying underneath. As the bandit leader removed the last bloody layer of gauze, she had a curious look on her face as she stared at the wound for a couple seconds.

"Is something wrong?" I ask her with some concern in my voice.

"I'm surprised, Simin. From the looks of this you're making a pretty fast recovery. Abnormally fast, I might add. This wound looked much, much worse compared to how it looks now. It appears that you may be on the verge of unlocking your aura." She says as she begins to redress my wound with the fresh bandages.

"My aura?" I ask her not knowing exactly what she meant. "What do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you've never heard of aura before, Simin." Raven says with a bit of disbelief in her voice.

"I've had it brought up to me before in the past,..." I assure her. "...but I never really fully understood what it was."

"Hmm... well allow me to give you a brief rundown of the ins and outs of aura. It's something everyone has, but it takes a certain amount of skill and training to be able to unlock it. It's essentially the manifestation of one's soul that is projected around their body and it basically creates a barrier around you that protects you from harm and even has the ability to heal most wounds."

"So in other words..."

"Think of it like an invisible suit of armor that perfectly wraps and morphs around your body that also gives you a bit of a healing factor." Raven simplifies it further for me.

"Okay, I think I get it now." I say with a slight nod of my head.

"However,..." She continues. "... one thing I should add is that despite aura being able to protect you from wounds and heal most already inflicted wounds, it does not nullify pain. And it can be broken through if it takes enough damage, which means you will have to train it if you wish to increase it because the more aura you have, the more damage it can take and the faster it can heal most wounds so long as it is activated. Another thing about aura I should also add is that the more you increase the amount of aura you have, the more things you'll be able to push your semblance, once you unlock it."

"A semblance?" I ask as I am hit with another word I am not familiar with.

"Wow, you are a sheltered kid!" Raven commented with a sigh. "A semblance is a unique, hidden ability that each person is born with that can be unlocked given the right circumstances. Think of it as your hidden potential. It can have the ability to turn the tide of a battle and turn unwinnable situations into an even playing field and act as a potential equalizer depending on how you implement it. They can pretty much do anything. Some can grant you the ability to move at superhuman speeds, others can allow you to clone yourself, some can give you the ability to manipulate matter with your mind, and more. The possibilities are pretty much endless at what a semblance can be or do, especially when it comes to how you apply it. Take mine for example. Though it is not a combat oriented semblance nor is it the most impressive once broken down, I can still implement it in combat situations in ways that some wouldn't expect.

"However, despite the abilities and advantages a semblance can grant you, you can't rely too heavily on your semblance since it is directly connected to your aura. If you overuse your semblance, it can drain your aura like a battery, which will render you borderline defenseless with no aura to protect you or heal you as the only things left for you to rely on will be your own skills and base limitations as you will have to wait for your aura to recharge enough for you to use your semblance again.

"Semblances can also be divided into two categories: passive and active. Active semblances are the ones that are directly tied to aura and require extensive training or, as I said earlier, certain circumstances to be unlocked. So long as it requires the user's action, whether it be physical or mental, to activate or use it, then it is considered an active semblance.

"Passive semblances, on the other hand, operate much differently than active semblances and sort of operate under their own set of rules. For starters, they are automatically unlocked at birth and do not require aura to function and they act completely independent of the user and their aura. Because of that, passive semblances are the exception to the aura draining rule as they do not drain aura and can still be in effect even after the user's aura is broken. Lastly, the user has no actual control over it since passive semblances tend to act of their own accord to varying degrees. My brother, Qrow, is the biggest example of this I know. His semblance is misfortune, which basically makes him a walking bad luck charm and it's always in effect at all times since he doesn't really have any control over it."

"Wait, you have a brother?" I ask curiously.

"Yes. But we are not exactly on speaking terms anymore to put it lightly." When she said this, I noticed she slowed down a bit when changing my bandages.

"What happened?" I prod.

Suddenly, Raven paused and immediately stopped what she was doing. She then focused her attention from changing my bandages to me as she looked me directly in the eyes.

"It's best not to ask such personal questions so soon after meeting someone, Simin." She said almost as if she was giving me a warning.

"Right. I'm sorry." I say not wanting to test my luck and push the envelope further. Raven then went back to changing my bandages, this time, in silence.

"There. You should be all set." She says as she finishes treating my wounds. She then returned to her side of the table and sat back down.

"Even though I would have preferred it be under different circumstances, you're lucky I found you when I did. You know that? And I'm not referring to your injuries this time." She said as she sat down.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Did you hear about what happened to Kuroyuri?" She asked before taking a sip of her tea.

"Yes. I heard it got destroyed in a grimm attack." I answer as I look away, thinking about the lives that were lost and the people who could possibly be going through what I went through.

"Which means that if you had actually made it to Kuroyuri like you had originally intended, chances are you probably would have walked right into the grimm attack or at least the aftermath and you would have been killed upon arrival."

"Oh. I see." I say taking a sip of my tea.

I still can't shake the thought of those victims out of my head. It made me think about all the innocents who have been slaughtered whether it was Dorado, Kuroyuri, or any other village. After first hearing about Kuroyuri last night, there was a burning question that resided in me that I needed to know the answer to and I feel like Raven is the only person who can give it to me.

"May I ask you something?" I ask Raven, looking at my tea as the lukewarm heat emanating from it gently kissed my face.

"What is it?" Raven asked, curious as to why I suddenly took the initiative in the conversation.

"Why do bad things happen to those who don't deserve it?"

Raven seemed a little surprised by my question. She definitely wasn't expecting me to ask that, but the quick shift in her expression from slight surprise back to a more neutral one showed that she does know the answer.

"It's a cruel, merciless world out there, Simin." Raven answered as if she already knew the question and the answer beforehand. "I'm sure you've realized that by now. And in order to survive in a cruel and merciless world, you need to be just as cruel and merciless. That's how we've been able to survive out here. And I'm sure that's how you've been able to survive as well. No matter what it is, in order to preserve your own survival or even the survival of those around you, there is no room for things like compassion or mercy."

"But what about those who live in villages or those in the kingdoms?" I asked. "They never relied on cruelty and mercilessness to live, do they?"

"The people in the villages are never long for this world. They're just a bunch of idiots who take their chances with the wilderness, but instead of fighting and clawing to survive, they arm themselves with a proverbial pair of dice. In other words, every day they spend out there is a gamble where they are hoping the next day they won't be raided by bandits or sacked by grimm. And the only thing to save them is dumb luck like if a huntsman or huntress happens to be walking by. But if that doesn't happen, then they are nothing more than screwed. If you don't believe me, ask the people of Kuroyuri if there are any left. They died because they were naïve enough to think they could get by out here without having to do whatever it took to survive and they kept themselves weak in the process.

"And as for the kingdoms, you couldn't be more wrong. Even the kingdoms have their own cruel and merciless environment. It takes a certain level of cunning and preparedness to survive there. It's just as brutal in there as it is out here. The only difference is they are more organized when they do it, which means it takes a different kind of creature to survive there and get to the top, let alone stay at the top. The SDC is the biggest example of this as they are a worldwide juggernaut in the dust industry by adopting cutthroat business practices and exploiting Faunus workers, which is something they constantly try to sweep under the rug and successfully do so every time. Then there are the underground crime syndicates like the Mistral black market that constantly sell illegal items all under the nose of the Mistral government as well as carry out kidnappings in the slums for human and faunus trafficking. The slums of Mistral alone, on average, have more kidnappings than all of Vacuo, an entire kingdom that is known to be one of the most dangerous on Remnant."

"But what about--"

"Hey, you asked and I answered. I'm sorry if it wasn't the answer you wanted, but it's the one you needed to hear. That's the sad truth no matter how you cut it. I've arrived at this conclusion a very long time ago through my experiences in Remnant and I've yet to see anything that contradicts that... unless you have something to tell me that I don't know." Raven said before finishing her cup of tea as I was now silent.

I hate to admit it, but she does have a point. My father was the protector of Dorado and the village mostly relied on his protection, but when he got murdered, the village collapsed in a single night from a grimm attack. Oniyuri ended up having to be abandoned due to a potentially approaching grimm horde and the residents relocated to Kuroyuri due to the likely threat of a grimm attack. And Kuroyuri ended up getting demolished in a single night just like Dorado. All those people died because they had no one to protect them and they were too weak to fight for themselves. I guess Raven really is right. But to what extent is she?

"But anyway," Raven continues. "We're getting off topic. I didn't bring up Kuroyuri to discuss the latest thing going on in the world. Simin, do you believe in things like fate and natural selection?"

"What do you mean?" I asked for about the third time since stepping in this tent.

"What I mean is, did it ever occur to you that me finding you, Kuroyuri falling, and possibly everything leading up to this exact moment was for a reason?" She asks with indication that this is leading up to something.

"What are you trying to say?" I ask with my head slightly cocked with a bit of a bewildered look on my face.

"What I'm saying, Simin, is have you ever thought that maybe the world itself delivered you right to us? That you were meant to be a part of this tribe-- this family? The world has recognized your strength, your skill, and your determination, Simin. You have proven yourself to the world that you are a survivor and a fighter, and in return, the world has deemed you fit to live. And that is why you are here right now. That is why we are having this conversation. You belong with us. And if these events aren't a clear indication of that, then I don't know what is.

"There is nowhere more suitable for you than here at the tribe. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you have what it takes, Simin: the skill, the determination, the strength, and more. This can be your home and we can be your family. You are a fighter with nothing to fight for. A survivor with nothing to live for. So if you want to live for something and fight for something, then all you have to do... is take my hand." Raven says as she extends her hand waiting for me to take it.

Here it is. The ultimate decision. With just one word and a single motion, I determine my future. On one hand, if I say no, I will be cast back out into the wilderness. And it's not like I have anywhere to go anymore now that Kuroyuri is destroyed, so I would literally be sent out to die at the hands of the world itself. But if I say yes, I can get my second chance at life. I can start over. When I was in that cage, I was solidified in saying no and was ready to be cast out and die, no longer caring to live. But Mari, made a miracle happen by taking my despair and turning it into hope... hope that I can actually get something back. A home and a family. At this very moment, I knew my answer. And in response to Raven extending her hand to me, I reach out and firmly grab her forearm, which she does to mine in return, look her dead in the eyes, and confidently say:

"Yes, Raven. I will join your tribe."

* * *

After accepting Raven's offer to join her tribe, she returned to me my weapons and then gathered the camp outside the tent where she would basically announce me joining the tribe, to the indifference or slight surprise of many (including Vernal) and to the relief of Mari. After that, she would have Mari and Vernal set up a tent for me (which was not far from Raven's, Mari's, and Vernal's tents) while I waited with Raven. After that, Mari would take me to my tent where I dropped my weapons off (although I still kept my knife on me) and she would pretty much just walk me around camp. Every now and then, we would get approached by a bandit who just wanted to say hi and welcome me, but for the most part, most of them were very indifferent or a bit apprehensive toward me.

Once we were done with that, that Sophia girl, who was in the middle of a card game with Vernal, invited us over to join, which we agreed. After dealing us in, Sophia tried to explain to me the rules of the game as best she could, but I honestly could not get even a little bit of a grasp on the concept, so I just nodded my head and just went along with everything she said. I was so lost throughout the game that I just ended up following Mari's lead the whole time, since she was sitting right next to me. However, something tells me it may have been a case of the blind leading the blind because it seemed she was about as lost as I was and she didn't seem to know what she was doing either. I genuinely could not tell whether I was winning or losing throughout the game until we got to the end where Vernal ended up being the actual victor.

I also should mention that throughout the whole game Vernal kept briefly eyeing me like there was something on her mind. I could already see an interrogation coming my way. Later that night, my prediction would be proven correct when, just as dinner was starting, Raven would leave for a bit and I would end up being cornered and interrogated by an opportunistic and very curious Vernal while Mari was getting my food.

"Okay, spill it, kid!" Vernal demanded as she interrogated like she was trying to get me to confess to a crime. "What Raven did for you isn't something she does for just anybody. So what does she want with you? What is it about you that interests Raven so much?"

"U-um..." I was a bit caught off guard since she came at me so suddenly and I didn't exactly know how to respond.

"Answer the question!" She restlessly demanded as if somebody's life were on the line. "It's not that difficult. Who are you to her?"

"Maybe they're related?" Sophia chimed in, clearly eavesdropping, as she approached us and took a seat on the ground before taking a sip from her cup. "Like he's her illegitimate child or something?"

"What?! N-no! That's-- that's ridiculous! We're not related at all!" I slightly raised my voice as I got slightly flustered by her ludicrous guess.

"Relax, kid." Sophia said, laughing at my reaction. "It's just a harmless guess. Buuut,..." She then stands up and faces me. "...judging from your reaction, perhaps there's some truth to my words." She continued as she bent down, placing her hands on her knees, as she leaned her face close to mine with an inquiring look, causing it to go even redder.

"C-could you please not stand so close?" I plead as I take a couple steps back.

"He's so adorable." She says with a slight chuckle as she looks back to Vernal and stands up straight again before turning back to me. "You can relax now. I'm just teasing you. I'll lay off of you now." She says as she ended her little stunt.

"So... you have a name, kid?" She continued as she sat back down, legs crossed and propping herself up with her arms as she was leaning back.

"You do realize I wasn't finished with him yet, right, Phi?" Vernal interrupted as her words were this time directed toward Sophia.

"Well you were clearly making him uncomfortable." Sophia responded as she took a sip from her drink.

"You say that as if what you were doing was any help." Vernal protested.

"Well at least it's better than you intimidating him."

"I feel so awkward right now. Where's Mari so she can pull me out of this?"

Just then, as Vernal and Sophia were distracted with their small dispute, I peer my head to the side a bit, looking past them, and I notice Mari approaching with my food.

"I'm saved!"

"I'm back, Simin! Sorry I took so long. Anyway, I hope you like venison because that's what we're having tonight." She says as Vernal and Sophia quickly ended their dispute we both joined Sophia on the ground and sat.

"Here you go, Simin." Mari says as she hands me my plate and sits down next to me to my right.

"Thank you, Mari. But you know you don't have to keep bringing me my food anymore, right? I'm not a captive anymore." I remind her.

"Sorry. Force of habit, I guess." Mari says with a slight nervous laugh as she forces a bit of a smile, her cheeks turning into a light shade of red from the slight feeling of embarrassment.

"You're too nice, Mari." Vernal says as she turns to scold her. "The kid's not going to get anywhere if you baby him."

"I know, I know." Mari says with a sort of exhausted tone as she rolls her eyes.

I get the feeling this isn't the first time they've had this exchange judging from Mari's reaction.

"I have a name, you know." I join in as I turn to Vernal.

"Oh, and what is it then?" She asks me.

"It's Simin." I tell her as I take a bite from my venison.

"Simin, huh?" Sophia chimes in again. "You mind if I just call you 'Lu' instead?"

"What? Why 'Lu'?" I ask confused.

"I don't know. You just look like a 'Lu' to me." She says in a way that sounded almost evasive as she looked away for a second like there's something she didn't want to say.

"Why do I have the feeling you're still going to call me 'Lu' regardless of what I say?" I ask with suspicion.

"Because I am." Sophia says bluntly.

"Please don't call me that?" I plead.

"Nope." She says even more bluntly as she takes another sip.

"But it doesn't even make any—"

"Don't bother arguing with her, Simin." Vernal advises me as she cuts me off. "She's as stubborn as a mule." She then leans close and lowers her voice a bit. "Which is why she's a terrible gambler. That's how she ended up being in debt with me."

"Oh screw you, Vernal! I heard that!" Sophia says in response to Vernal's indirect jab to which Vernal responds with a chuckle of her own.

"It's true though." Vernal fires back. "If you had just decided to swap some cards from your hand instead of holding onto them, you would have stood a chance. But no. You just had to get cocky."

"I get cocky?!" Sophia raises her voice in disbelief. "You're the one who always has a sly grin on your face everytime like you have this thing won from the start."

"Well when it's you I'm going against, can you really blame me?" Vernal jabs.

"Just you wait, Vernal!" Sophia wags her finger at her. "One of these days I will beat you. I'm just... letting you beat me so you can get a winning streak over me so that I can lure you into a false sense of security, which will make it even more satisfying when I take you down."

"Well how many rounds are you going to 'let me win' until you decide that you're going to beat me in the next round?"

"As many as I want." She crosses her arms.

"Well then I guess you must like losing, then." Vernal says coldly.

In response, Sophia just huffs as she stuffs a piece of venison in her mouth, accepting her quick defeat as Vernal stumped her.

"Damn! That was cold." I thought to myself.

Something tells me their relationship is one of those types of friendships where they will constantly butt heads or throw jabs at each other, but still call themselves friends by the end of it. I never understood those types of friendships, but I've seen people somehow make it work during my time in Dorado whenever I would occasionally see two teenagers insult and throw verbal jabs at each other while at the same time laughing and smiling.

"Anyway..." Vernal then turns back to me. "I'm still not finished with you, Simin. I still have questions for you to answer."

"Oh leave him alone, Vernal!" Says Mari, inserting herself back into the conversation. "You're making him uncomfortable."

"But don't you not want to know where he came from? Who he is exactly? Or why Raven has taken an interest in him? Are you not even the slightest bit curious?" Vernal says trying to win Mari to her side.

"I am, but I'm not going to treat it like pulling teeth and interrogate him over it. Plus I'm sure the last thing he wants right now is to be hounded in the middle of dinner." Mari says, defending me. "Let the boy eat, enjoy himself, and relax. He's had a long and rough three days, not including whatever came before that."

"Fine. I'll drop it... for now, that is." Vernal reluctantly acquiesced with a slight sigh.

On that note, we all start eating our separate dinners. I admit I feel a bit awkward and uncomfortable given the new circumstances and adjusting to my new life, not even including the interrogation from moments ago. But aside from that, my first night as a part of Raven's tribe is going... ... well... not as bad as I thought.

After a few minutes of eating, one of us decided to speak up again:

"Psst! Hey, Vernal?" Sophia calls in a low voice as she nudges Vernal with her elbow.

"What is it, Phi?" Vernal asks after giving a slightly annoyed sigh and looking over in a way as if she had a feeling of what was going to happen next.

In response, Sophia says nothing except give a begging grin as she pulls something small out of her breast pocket and opens her palm to reveal a deck of playing cards.

"No, Phi!" Vernal immediately responds.

"Oh come on, Vernal! Please? You know you want to." Sophia begs.

"No, you want to." Vernal corrects her. "Can't you just ask Mari or Simin?" She says, trying to have us take her place.

"But Mari has no idea what she's doing and 'Lu' is still new at it." Sophia protests.

"Well that sounds like a 'you' problem." Vernal says coldly again.

"Pleeaase, Vernal. Just hear out my terms." Sophia keeps pushing.

"Did you forget what you already owe me?" Vernal reminds her.

"Look, if f I beat you--"

"I said no, Sophia!" Vernal cut her off.

"Don't bother arguing with her, Vernal. She's as stubborn as a mule, remember?" I teasingly remind her with a light elbow nudge to her side as I get in a bit of a jab of my own by turning her own words from earlier against her to which Mari just quietly chuckles in the background with her hand over her mouth so they couldn't hear her. As I said that, Vernal just flashed me a glare that probably said a lot of things toward me-- none of them good-- before turning back to Sophia.

"He's right you know." Said Sophia gesturing to me. "So what do you say?"

"Ugh! Fine! If it gets you off my ass!" Vernal reluctantly agrees after a few seconds of thinking with another annoyed sigh. "But under one condition: if I beat you, the amount you already owe me will be doubled."

"Alrighty. And as for my deal, when I beat you, the amount I owe you will be transferred to you and you will be the one owing me lien. Deal?" Sophia says with suspicious confidence as she extends her hand for Vernal to shake.

"Deal." Vernal says as she takes her hand and gives it a firm squeeze.

While Vernal and Sophia were distracted with their game, I turn my attention to my right to have a conversation with Mari.

"So how's your food, Simin? Are you enjoying yourself?" Mari asked as she turns to me as well.

"It's good. I've never had venison before." I then take another bite of my food.

"Really? So are you saying you've never hunted any deer when you were out in the wilderness?" Mari says pulling her right leg up to her chest and practically hugs it as she rests her cheek on her knee.

"Well I had a dream that I was hunting one, but I don't think that counts, does it?"

"No that does not count." Mari says as she gives a small laugh.

"Then never mind." I say as I join in on the small laugh.

"So what did you mainly eat then?" She asks after a couple seconds of silence.

"Mainly fish since there was a stream I would follow. But when I couldn't find any fish, I would just go for any small animals nearby like kingfishers and rabbits."

"That must have been really tough." Mari adopts an empathetic tone.

"It was." I say somberly as I stare down at my plate for a few moments.

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore." Mari says putting her hand on my shoulder. "You have us now. A new family and a new home. If there is something or someone you need, we'll be here for you." She then wraps her arm around my back and pulls me into a bit of a one-armed side hug.

As she did so, I couldn't help but notice how soft and warm her jacket is. I kinda don't want to let go. Now I'm starting to wish I had a jacket myself.

"Anyway..." She says, releasing me. "I'm still impressed that you even managed to survive out there for that long, especially given your age and size."

"Yeah. I'm surprised that--"

"WHAT?!" Sophia suddenly yells with shock in her voice as she throws her cards to the ground in frustration. "Dammit! Are you shitting me right now!?"

"You asked for this, Phi, so don't complain! Now you owe me double." Vernal scolds her with a sly grin on her face.

"But how could I have lost?! I even rigged your hand and everything!" Sophia blurts out.

"I'm sorry, you what?" Vernal asks after a brief pause, now looking very irate toward her.

Sophia now visibly looks nervous as she starts to give a nervous laugh as she was rubbing the back of her neck and starting to stammer while Vernal looked like she was ready to give her a lashing. Mari and I then glance at each other before we decide to get up and take our plates and cups to put away before things get ugly.

At this point, the area we were in was mostly empty at this point with most of the bandits in other parts of the camp or sleeping. There were only maybe two or three here as they were getting their fill of alcohol.

"Um. So Mari..." I get her attention.

"Hm? Yes, Simin? What's on your mind?" Mari says before putting the last small piece of venison in her mouth.

"When Vernal was interrogating me earlier about who I was and where I'm from and why Raven took an interest in me, it got me thinking about something."

"Like what?" Mari slightly tilted her head in curiosity as she looked down to talk to me.

"Who are you?" I ask bluntly.

"Um...What do you mean?" Mari asked with a bit of a puzzled look.

"What I mean is the way you present yourself in pretty much every way is so different from everyone else here, that it kinda makes you stick out. The way you dress, the way you speak, the way you walk, the way you act, all of it. Even your posture is different compared to everyone else. You're not from here are you-- the tribe I mean?"

The sudden change in the look of Mari's eyes showed me she was not expecting me to say that.

"Well... uh... aren't you observant?" Mari says as nervousness grew in her voice. She tried to play off the nervousness with a small laugh, but I could tell what I said made her nervousness as her steps slightly increased in pace with little distance between each step.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is what's your story?" I ask, ignoring her comment.

Mari looked incredibly nervous and had a bit of a "deer in the headlights" expression as she wasn't exactly sure how to answer or even what to answer with. She looks like she's about to start sweating. I wonder why her behavior suddenly changed from that. Eventually she spoke up, but she didn't say what I was expecting her to say.

"Simin, watch ou--!"

Unfortunately, Mari noticed too late and before she could finish her sentence, I ended up walking straight into a large bandit as something hard, but light, hit my head, before I fell to the ground. As I fell, my knife slid out of my pocket and I was suddenly drenched as a small amount of a wet, cold liquid spilled all over me. After a few smells, I noticed that it had a rather pungent smell. Alcohol.

Meanwhile, Mari was covering her mouth with a surprised expression as she moved her eyes back and forth to the bandit and to me like she was expecting a fight.

"Watch where you're fucking going!" The bandit slurred his words, clearly intoxicated.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." I apologized, as I look around for mom's knife.

"Hey! You look at me if you're gonna apologize! What's so important that's got you so distracted? You lose something special of yours?" He says in a mocking way.

"My knife." I answer, stupidly hoping he'd just buzz off if I answered his question.

"Do you mean this knife?" He says, as he spots my knife on the ground and gets down on one knee to pick it up.

"So what's so special about this knife?"

"It's... uh—"

"Hey! Leave him alone and give him back his knife--!" Mari steps in.

"Relax." The drunkard says as he holds her hand out to cut her off. "Just a harmless question. Is it wrong to want to get to know the new member?" He then turns back to me. "Care to answer the question?"

I don't think this asshole's going to give it back unless I comply. I'd kick his ass and take it back myself, but I don't think that would make a good first impression if I got into a fight on my first night. Not to mention I'm still injured, so I'm not too sure how I would fare in this shape.

"It's... it's my mother's. Look, just please give it back. It's extremely important to me." I plead with frustration as that is pretty much all I can really do given the scenario.

The fact this drunken dickhead is basically holding my mother's knife hostage right now is already pissing me off. But I need to keep it together for now.

"Don't worry, kid. I'll give it back."

"Oh thank the gods!"

"After a bit of dental hygiene."

"I'm sorry, what?"

He then proceeded to flip the knife around and bring it to his mouth and... he started to pick his teeth with it. My mother's knife is now being used to scrape gunk out of some jackass' teeth... right in front of me. Now I'm absolutely fuming. As soon as he started doing that I, without thinking, kicked the knife out of his hand, which caused him to flinch and stumble on his back as it slashed his lower lip.

"Agh! Fuck!" He shouted as he held his face for a couple seconds before shooting me a look of pure malice.

Next thing you know he swiftly kicks me in the gut where my wounds are, which immediately sent waves of pain through my body as it winded me and knocked me back a few feet as I fell to the ground, convulsing, while he got back up to his feet and started approaching me.

"Back off!" Mari shouted as she put herself between me and the drunkard.

Without a word, the bandit just brushed her out of the way with his arm, effortlessly moving her aside as if she weren't even there at all.

"You're fucking dead, kid!" He said as he lifted me by my collar and brought his other hand back to pummel me.

"STOP!" Mari shouted as she grabbed his hand. "You will leave him alone!"

"Stay out of my fucking way, Mari!" He says as he jerks his arm, which flings Mari to the ground, briefly lifting her off her feet for a second.

"VERNAL! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" Mari shouts for Vernal at the top of her lungs so she can come and resolve the situation.

Vernal took notice and got up from where she was and headed to our location. I should also point out that Sophia was already long gone at that point.

"So you think you're tough, kid?" The bandit jeers with ill intent in his drunken eyes. "You have any idea where you are? We're a band, not a daycare! But if you think you're tough enough to play with the big boys, then I don't mind showing you the ropes. Well come on, then. Show me how tough you are, shit stain!"

"I have nothing to prove to someone who has nothing to offer." I utter as how he's holding me is making it a bit harder to breathe.

If I wasn't injured already, he'd be unconscious by now.

"Oho! You got quite the mouth on you!" He mocks. "How about I take care of that?"

"HEY!" Vernal barks as she reaches us, getting his attention as he looks over while still holding me. "Drop him... now."

"You need to mind your own fucking business, Vernal!" He snaps back as Vernal foolishly tries to reason with a drunk.

"And you need to know your place! I'm in charge when Raven is gone, so until she gets back, this is all my fucking business!" She says as she draws her weapons and points them at the drunkard.

Her weapons are a pair of curved blades that kind of resemble a pair of half-moons with the open ends facing us. In the center of the blades, there appears to be barrels, which indicates that these weapons are most definitely also firearms and the fact that Vernal has her finger curled over what looks like a trigger only proves my suspicions correct.

"Vernal, is that necessary?" Mari questions Vernal's approach to the situation.

"Hey, you're the one who called me here, Mari, so don't start with me!" Vernal shouts to Mari. "I'm doing this my way! It's going to take more than pacifism to reason with a drunkard, Mari. So let me take the reins here if you're just going to be useless."

Vernal then turned back to us.

"Now I'm going to count to three. And if you don't put him down and back off by that point..." She then aims her weapons at the drunkard, ready to pull the trigger if need be.

"You'll what? You'll kill me?" The drunkard asks in a sarcastic tone clearly brave due to his drunkenness as he gives a slight chuckle.

"No. But I'll make you wish that I did." Vernal said adopting a very serious tone, like she was ready to maim her own tribe member if she had to.

"Sure you will." Said the jackass to Vernal, turning his attention back to me.

"One." Vernal had started counting, giving him a chance to put me down.

"What's the real reason why Raven let a shit stain like you be a part of our family?!" Said the man with a mocking tone as he aggressively shook me.

"Two." Vernal sounded more impatient after his comment. For a second, I almost thought she was about to skip to three and pull the trigger.

"Let me go!" I struggled to yell since the way he was holding me was starting to make it hard for me to breathe.

"Not fucking happening! So did she pity you? Was that it?"

"Thr--"

Not wanting Vernal to have to shoot this guy, before she could finish saying three, I kicked the drunkard square in the face, stunning him and knocking him back as well as him letting me go as I hit the ground with a thud, gasping for air and holding my pained sides. Mari and Vernal both looked a bit surprised that I managed to stun him like that with just a single kick from my position.

As he regained his bearings, the drunk man looked back at me with a livid expression and said:

"You just dug your own grave."

* * *

This isn't good. I just pissed him off even more now. Now I've never had any experience with one, but I know for a fact that there is no reasoning with a pissed off drunk person in any situation-- especially when you're the one that pissed them off.

The man was now storming back over to me as I was prepared to defend myself. I'm going to have to end this quickly if I don't want to injure myself even more. But that alone is going to be even more of a challenge given the injuries I'm already recovering from. I'm very limited as to what I can do at the moment. But regardless, I'm still going to make this bastard pay for disrespecting my mother by using her knife as a toothpick and thinking he can push me around.

As we both started moving toward each other, we were briefly stopped by a crescent shaped blade flying into our path and lodging itself into the ground and briefly getting our attention.

"Enough!" Shouted Vernal to both of us.

"No Vernal. Stay out of this."

"I am not having a fight break out under my watch!" She yelled.

"But Vernal, weren't you asking earlier why Raven took an interest in me?" I bargain, taking advantage of her curiosity from earlier.

"And what does that have to do with this?" Vernal asks, irritated and confused by seemingly irrelevant question.

"If you want your answer, then please stay out of this— you and Mari."

With that, Vernal, with an intrigued look on her face, paused before lowering her weapon, giving me center stage.

"You can't be serious, Vernal!" Mari protested. "He's going to get hurt! Are you seriously letting a fight play out because you let your curiosity get the better of you?!"

"I'll jump in and stop it when I feel it's going too far, Mari, which is if they literally start trying to kill each other. But right now, I'm going to get an answer and see what he can do. And if all I have to do to get that is just sit and watch, then I'll do that."

"And how would you go about stopping it?" Mari asks with worry in her voice.

"Quickly and efficiently." Vernal answers vaguely.

With that Vernal and Mari left us to our fight as they watched as spectators.

As the man and I got closer, he attempted a straight jab with his left hand and I ducked and moved to the side and took a couple of quick shots to his ribs, which seemed to have affected him a little bit. He would then attempt a back hand and I, anticipating it, would duck again and move back in front of him to kick him straight in the crotch, causing him to crouch down. I then thrust my hand into his neck as he crouched from the pain, hitting him in the throat and stunning him again. Just one more solid shot should do it for me to end this quickly. I think I'll end it with a knee strike next.

I take a couple steps back to build space for me to run up and knee him in the head, but as I was coming back in to finish him off with it, he caught the knee and took me to the ground pinning me. As he brought his arm back to pummel my face in, I grabbed a handful of dust and threw it in his face, getting it into his eyes. I then took the opening to reach for my plate that was right next to me and stabbed him in the cheek with a fork I had grabbed.

"Agh! You little shit!" Shouted the bandit with agony in his voice as he backed off of me in pain and sort of leaned back next to me, swearing from the pain.

I'm a bit slow to get up as that take down really hurt me due to my wound, but I'm still able to manage. I get on top of him as I dug the fork deeper into his cheek causing him to shriek in pain, but it didn't take long or much effort for him to toss me off. Luckily for me, he was still having a bit of trouble seeing through his dust filled eyes, giving me some time to catch my breath before he could catch me. At this point, I'm not sure at this point if I'll have enough strength to finish him off with a strike to the head, so I might have to try a different approach if I am to beat him. As I was getting back up again, I feel a large fist hit me in the side of the face rattling me and knocking me back down and a few feet back.

"How did he know where to hit me?" I thought. "He shouldn't be able to see. Did he get lucky?"

I look up and see the man approaching me, his eyes red like an angry bull, either from the dust in his eyes or the unbridled rage.

"Oh shit!"

As he started marching toward me again while I was still on all fours, a bit stunned from that headshot, I realized he was about to punt me in the gut or stomp me on the back. Either way, that will most likely critically injure me. I need to move, but I'm still feeling the effects from that headshot.

"Come on, Simin! Shake it off and move!"

As he was about to land a heavy stomp on me, I roll to the inside as he brings his foot down, leaving a large gap between his legs due to the lunge he took to take it. I saw my opening and immediately scurried under his legs as he reached for me and I quickly get behind him and mount his back. I wrap my left arm around his neck under his chin and my right arm to lock it in place and began to apply as much pressure as I could while also raking his eyes for some extra damage.

The drunkard was desperately trying to shake me off as he was gasping for air and the blood circulation to his brain was starting to cut off. With seemingly nothing left to do, he then reached for the fork that was still embedded in his cheek and pulled it out, releasing a sharp exhale of pain. I then realized what he was trying to do: he was going to stab my arm or face with it to get me to let go! Not wanting to take the risk, I quickly release him.

As I landed, he quickly turned around before I even hit the ground and caught me with a backward swipe with his right arm that I wasn't able to dodge this time as it knocked me down. However, I did manage to get my arm up to partially block the head shot this time. As I got back up to my feet, he lands a kick toward my sternum and essentially shoves me back a couple yards.

After being knocked down I look up and try to catch my breath expecting him to come at me again. But instead, I'm just met with the sight looking down at something. As I move my gaze toward what it is he's looking at, I see that he's staring down at mom's knife, still sitting on the ground from when I kicked it out of his hands earlier.

"Is he planning to use it on me?"

Instead of bending down to pick up my mother's knife and use it, like I thought he would, he instead spits on it and proceeds to press his boot on it. After seeing that, I suddenly felt that bubbling rage start to burn in me again just like on the day Bruno died. I know drunk people don't make the wisest of decisions, but what he just did is going to cost him his life! Now I'm the one who's seeing red!

As I was down on the ground, the man seemingly tried to pounce on me as he brought his body to the ground where I was. Just as he did that, I swiftly moved out of the way, ignoring all pain in my body just to make this one bastard pay. As I dodged, I quickly get to my feet and grab a bottle. I try to swing the glass bottle at his face, but he blocks it with his forearm just in time, causing broken glass to lay everywhere and some getting embedded into his forearm. Right after he blocked it, the man grabbed me by the shirt and proceeded to lift me up like he did earlier. He then punched me in the gut around where my wound was, sending another wave of pain shoot through my body, and then flung me back down to the ground tearing a huge hole in my shirt and revealing my bandages.

At this point, whatever I do, needs to be quick and decisive. I'm in so much pain right now, I thought I was going to throw up. I'm just going to have to fight through it. Right now would be a good time for that adrenaline to kick in.

I immediately get back up, fighting through the pain and not wasting any time after being tossed to the ground, and rush back toward him and dropkick his knee, bringing him back down to my level like when I gave him that low blow. He's a bit hurt by this and it won't be long until he recovers, so I then quickly get up and land a shot on his ribs and another into the side of his neck. For the neck shot, I formed my fist in a way that my knuckles were basically sticking out so I could concentrate the blow more to specific spots and hopefully get a bit more damage in because of it. He once again brings his arm back to do a backward swipe again but I lean back and dodge as his arm goes over my face.

"Man, this guy fights like a colossus, which is anything but a compliment!"

I take the opening and move in and jab him in the face with one knuckle out that I drive straight into his eye and open my other hand and thrust it into his solar plexus as if it were a knife. This gets a good amount of damage in as I start chopping him down to size.

He brings his left arm for a punch but I lean back and step back a bit and block it with my left hand, capturing and controlling the wrist in the process. Upon doing this, I thrust my foot into his ribs. Then, still in control of his wrist, I spin myself around in a way that I am almost in front of him with my back facing toward him and use my momentum to hit him with a back elbow in the gut, open my hand and swiftly bring it down to chop him in the groin, and then ball that same hand into a fist as I hit him with a back fist square in the face into his bleeding nose (all of that being done with the same arm). Once that is done, I spin and jump as I nail him in the jaw with a knee, knocking him flat on his back.

As he started to recover a bit, I grabbed a plate and got myself a bit of a distance between us.

"He hasn't noticed yet. Time to end this!"

I toss the plate in the air toward him and sprint forward. As the plate was about to come down right in front of his face, I jump and hit a flying knee into the plate and into his face. The plate shattered on impact as my knee and his face both made contact with it. The man was instantly knocked out upon receiving the decisive blow as his body violently whipped back and hit the ground, his head bouncing off of it from the force.

But I wasn't done with him yet. I still feel absolutely livid at what he did with her knife. As he lay there knocked out, I go and retrieve my knife. Just the site of his boot marks on it and the glob of saliva on the blade made me livid. I'm not letting this go so easily.

At this point I couldn't even hear anything around me due to the pain in my body and my unbridled rage. I approached the unconscious man with the knife and placed my knee on his abdomen as I brought the blade above my head, ready to sink it into his chest. But as soon as I was about to make the motion—

"SIMIN!" I hear a voice snap me out of it as I feel a hand firmly grab my wrist and pull it back at the last moment while also pulling me back into reality.

As I snapped out of my rage-filled state, I look back at the source of the voice and I see Mari standing over me with her hand firmly grabbing onto my wrist. She was staring at me with pleading eyes and a fearful expression.

"Let it go, Simin." She says, bringing her voice to a softer tone. "Please. He's not a threat anymore."

I then see Mari's eyes dart off to the side a bit as if she were trying to tell me something. I move my eyes in the same direction and I see Vernal behind her, pointing her weapon at me with a stone cold face. I could tell just from her look that she was literally on the verge of pulling the trigger on me.

I then slowly release the knife as it falls to the ground with a slight thud. In response to that Mari releases me hand. After that I looked back down at the unconscious man that I was about to kill. As soon as I did so, I look back into Mari's fearful eyes and then back down at the unconscious man and put my hand over my mouth as the feeling hit me.

"Oh my gods! I... I was about to kill him! I was actually about to kill him!"

It felt like something had come over me like a tidal wave swallowing whole all that lay in its path. It was an overwhelming feeling of guilt. I then started to feel my heartbeat quicken as well as my breathing getting rapid as the guilt grew more and more to the point that it became almost unbearable. Like my body was fighting back against my mind and screaming at me for what I was about to do.

"I have to get out of here!"

I then made a beeline toward a secluded part of the camp and dropped on the ground behind a few crates where no one could see me so I could regather my bearings. Due to my abdominal wounds, the rapid made it very painful for me to take a breath and left me hunched over as the breaths became labored. It felt like my own body was torturing me.

"It hurts so much! I-I can't believe I was going to murder that guy! What am I doing?! What am I thinking?! What am I becoming? What's--"

"Simin?" I hear Mari's voice call out to me, interrupting my thoughts and dragging me out of my own head.

She sounded almost skittish, like she was afraid of me. Not that I can blame her if she feels that way considering I almost just murdered a guy right in front of her. I was so busy trying to pull myself back together, I couldn't answer.

"S-simin are you--"

"I-I'm fine, Mari! Don't--... don't worry about me!" I struggle to speak, between pained breaths.

"Simi--"

"I'M FINE, MARI!!" I shouted with a pained voice. "Just... please... leave me alone right now. I'm sorry Mari,... but I just... need to be alone." I then covered my mouth to suppress my hyperventilating to keep her from hearing my labored breaths and checking up on me.

Mari then hesitated until she spoke up again.

"O-okay, Simin. I'll give you your space. Just call for me or find me if you need anything."

I could then hear footsteps going in the opposite direction. As soon as Mari left, I audibly finished my thought from a moment ago:

"What's wrong with me?"

**CHAPTER END**

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Hey, everyone!

I want to start this off with an apology. I'm really sorry this chapter is so late. I have been really tired this past week and the fact that this was an absolute monster of a chapter in terms of size didn't exactly help much either, which contributed to a severe lack of sleep and a bit of stress this past week. Just yesterday, I literally ended up going to bed at 3 p.m. (no, that is not a typo) because I was up all night finishing editing this monster-sized chapter. So for the next few weeks, I'm going to be taking it easy and slow down a bit and I might take a small break (not sure yet on whether I actually will or not) after posting chapter 12 to close off the third act. Right now, I am almost done revising the remaining chapters for Volume 1 as I am currently revising chapter 19 (which is personally my favorite chapter in the volume).

Now with that out of the way, let's talk about this chapter:

(sigh)

I have a lot to say about this chapter and I'm going to be honest here and just say this right off the bat:

I am not too pleased with how this chapter turned out.

I don't know about the rest of you, but this chapter is probably the weakest in this entire volume in my opinion, which is why I have the most mixed feelings toward it. I tried smoothening it out as best I could, but I'm not sure if it was enough. The pacing just feels a bit off to me, the dialogue in the second half feels a bit weird or disjointed in some parts, and the entire last third of the chapter feels really messy to me. If I had to rank this chapter out of 10, I would make it probably a 6/10. It's easily my least favorite chapter. I'm not sure if this is just the lack of sleep talking right now or the fact that this chapter was a huge pain to work on, but that's how I feel toward this chapter at the moment. If there is anything I could have done to have improved this chapter, please tell me. I welcome your criticism with open arms.

Not to mention the fight scene felt a bit forced or shoehorned compared to the others I've had this volume. The main reason why I had this fight scene even happen at all was because I needed something that would readdress the words Raven said to Simin back in chapter 9 regarding what he did in chapter 8 and I thought this was the best way for me to do it so it could lead to Simin's biggest mental struggle, that being with himself and what he did, so that he can come to terms with the things he did and move on... for now, that is. Also, I really wanted to have at least one brawl scene. So anyway, the reason why Simin reacts the way he does toward the end of this chapter is because he is very affected by the words Raven said to him in chapter 9 and he's starting to feel guilt for the things he did in chapter 8, which are coming back to haunt him, which means he's currently going through his biggest mental struggle in the volume (which will be resolved in the next chapter, which will be a really wholesome one (mostly)).

Which reminds me, next chapter, we're also going to be getting the final dream sequence for this volume.

So like I said in the last chapter's notes, I've kinda hit the reset button with aura as I am going to be changing the rules a bit and making tweaks such as me making up the rule of how passive semblances don't use up aura or function with aura, for example. I'll explain why I made that up when I get to the fun fact for this chapter. I do plan on doing some of my own things with aura in the future to expand on it, but I will keep that secret for now. I plan on revealing those things in Volume 2. Also when Raven was explaining semblances to Simin, I was originally going to have her break it down even further with supplemental information by categorizing semblances in regard to how they function such as conditional semblances that require certain conditions be met to use them such as Raven's semblance, which requires her to form a bond with someone in order to use it, semblances that only affect the user such as Blake's semblance that allows her to clone herself or Harriet's semblance that allows her to move very quickly, and semblances that affect things beyond the user such as Weiss' glyphs or Pyrrha's polarity. In the end, I decided to cut that out at the last second because I was worried I might be unnecessarily overcomplicating it. 

We also finally get introduced to the next oc of mine that I've been mentioning in the past few author's notes, Sophia Avalon, who has a little bit of a gambling problem (not sure if I did good job at showing that, so please let me know if I did well or not with that). She barely makes any appearances in the main chapters, but she's much more present in the anthology chapters. I'd like to know what you think of her and if there is any suggestions for me to improve her character, just let me know. She's kinda meant to be a bit of a comedic character or, at the very least, a more lighthearted character. I've never exactly written a character like this before so again if anyone has suggestions on how I can make her better, I am open to them. The reason why I put a character like this in this volume is because I felt I needed one to help balance the tone since out of all the volumes I plan on writing, Volume 1 is definitely the darkest. Sophia herself isn't really a major character in terms of the story, but she does, however, have ties or relations to a major oc of mine that does appear at the end of this volume. Also by the way, the reason why Sophia wants to refer to SImin as "Lu" has a lot to do with her backstory, which as I said previously, is really depressing. We'll get her depressing backstory in the first anthology chapter when we get to it.

Anyway, the next chapter will be the end of act 3. So with all that said, I will leave you to fun fact #11 and then I'm going to finally get some sleep:

Fun fact #11: The rule I said that involves aura not being tied to passive semblances stems from the fight in Volume 4 of RWBY where Qrow is fighting Tyrian. The reason why I made this rule is because during the fight, Qrow's aura breaks, but his bad luck semblance was still in effect (which was why Qrow yelled at Ruby to stay back to which Ruby responded by saying this was her fight as well and then Qrow says, "No, it's not that.", which was him basically referring to his bad luck semblance and that whole exchange took place after Qrow's aura had already broken).


	12. Volume I: Chapter XII: Moving On:

After I finally managed to calm down and pull myself back together, I decided to just stay where I was and keep myself isolated to avoid all human interaction for the rest of the night. I couldn’t bear to face anybody at the moment, afraid of what might happen or what I might do. Even though a couple hours had passed at this point, I was still as shaken up as I initially was from the incident that had occurred earlier.

“I…I can’t believe I almost-- no!” I can’t even think about it without getting overwhelmed again. Hopefully I can just sleep this off and forget about it by the time I wake up. Maybe it’s just a night of sleep I need. Just a little bit of rest. That’s all.... right?

I slowly and quietly tip-toe back toward the center of the camp under the cover of the dim light being emitted from the torches. Upon reaching it, I poke my head out to make sure the coast was clear. To my relief, I see that everyone was mostly gone with the exception of a few bandits who were absolutely wasted and unconscious with empty mugs and bottles either in their hand or by their side. However, in case of the off chance that there is someone who isn’t drunk out of their mind that I haven’t noticed, I still decide to be careful and move along the perimeter rather than walk straight through the open area.

After some sneaking around and staying within the darker, dimmer areas of the perimeter, I almost reach my tent. I eventually passed by the spot where I fought the drunk man from earlier and there were still broken shards from the bottle and the plate I used on him along with a few drops of dried up blood that were still on the ground. After seeing this, the memories started flooding back into me as I started to become overwhelmed again. In response, I quickly averted my gaze from the scene and began to book it to my tent and push through the flaps and collapsed on the skin rug on the floor. To help distract myself, I look around my tent to get my mind off of it.

The interior of my tent wasn’t very big. It was slightly larger than most of the other bandits’, but not as large as Mari’s or Vernal’s. I’m still thankful they set it up for me though. The interior of the tent was a bit smaller than my room back in Dorado (not including the closet space). Not very big, but still enough to move around a bit and stretch your legs. On the floor, there was a skin rug, of what animal, I do not know. It’s black, that’s for sure. Perhaps it’s an ursa skin rug? Wait, no! All grimm evaporate after death, so it can’t be that. Maybe it’s just a normal black bear. Either way, it’s very soft. On top of it rested a small orange sleeping bag with an insulated interior as well as a cushion to serve as my pillow. To my right, there was a small, forest green trunk with some of the paint peeling off with a golden colored latch. I think I’ll use that for storing my weapons and clothes. I noticed on top of the trunk, there was a small pointed object, but I couldn’t tell what it was due to how dim it was in here. As I looked closer, I realized it was my mother’s knife. Mari must have brought it back here and returned it to me after I ran off. That girl has way too much faith and trust in me. Not that I’m imp;ying that I’m going to run out and start slaughtering some people, but after seeing what happened earlier, not even I would give the knife back to me and that’s coming from someone who values this thing almost as much as my own life considering I got into a fight with a colossus when trying to get it back.

I also noticed that beside mom’s knife, there was a slip of paper-- a note… from Mari. I could tell because she signed it this time. Also, I recognize her handwriting. I slowly walk toward the trunk and pick up the note and read it:

Hey Simin,

I’ll keep this one short and sweet since you will have probably had a long day. I first want to start off with saying that I would like to welcome you to our tribe! I know you’ve gone through some tough times so I hope we can help you move forward and feel at home as part of our family. You now have a second chance, Simin and I have faith in you that you will make the most of it.

Also, I hope you like your tent that Vernal and I set up for you. Now you can have your own space! I know there isn’t a lot in there so if there is anything more you need, just let me know and I will do my best to help. Anyway, I’ll probably be waking you up a bit early for breakfast tomorrow, so don’t stay up too late okay? Get some sleep.

Sweet dreams!

-Mari

She must have written and placed this here earlier this morning considering the context of it. I don’t think Mari would have written that after seeing me almost murder a guy right in front of her. In fact she’s probably taking back everything she’s said in that note right now.

I let out a stressed sigh and tossed the note back onto the trunk. Normally, this note would make me feel assured or at ease, but honestly, it just makes me feel worse to the point that I borderline despise myself. Mari, the only person here who I feel I can trust and am comfortable with is probably afraid of me or even hates me too… and I wouldn’t blame her one bit. I’d hate me too if I saw that and now I probably just drove her away.

I let out another stressed, even longer sigh.

I then picked up my knife and held it into the moonlight that shone through the gap in the flaps of my tent as I took a good, long look at it. I could see my image being reflected by the gleaming blade due to the illumination of the pale moonlight in the clear sky. It was almost as if I was holding a mirror shard in my hand. The face staring back at me--the look in his eyes-- he looks… tired. He looks pained. Not physical pain though, but anguish. Is this reflection really me? I can’t even tell anymore.

I wish Vernal had just pulled the trigger right then and there. But I guess for now, I’ll have to settle for the next best thing: sleep.

I slowly climb into my sleeping bag in a way that probably looked as if I had just completely exhausted myself from an intense workout. It feels very comfortable and soft to the touch, especially considering I’ve been sleeping on the literal ground for the past month or so. It’s warmth also feels very nice-- almost comforting-- as if I am being held in a motherly embrace. Ironic that I say that considering if my mother saw me now, she’d probably do the opposite of embrace me. I am nothing like the person she wanted me to be-- maybe even the complete opposite-- given the things I’ve done and who I’m becoming. Would she even still consider me her son? I doubt it. I’m no longer that innocent child she once knew who would sit on her lap as we fed the ducks at the fountain in Dorado. I’m not the person she died protecting. Would she be able to even look at me, knowing what I did? On second thought, maybe it’s a good thing Vernal didn’t shoot me. I don’t think I’d be able to face my mother (or my father either) after all that’s happened.

I then sink my body deeper and deeper into my soft, warm cocoon before I rest my head on my pillow and close my eyes. Though it took a while, I did finally manage to fall asleep.

* * *

Next thing you know, as I opened my eyes, I suddenly found myself standing in a pitch black forest, too dark for me to see. From the looks of it, I was sitting in some kind of wooded area. The sudden drastic change in environment left me very confused and disoriented as I didn’t know exactly what to do at the current moment. I frantically looked around for a direction I should go in, but everywhere I turned looked the same as the last: trees and darkness. However, snapping me out of my slight panic, I could hear the faint sounds of rolling waves in the distance. I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to follow the noise. It was almost as if they were guiding me toward the path I should take.

I begin heading toward the sound of the waves as my eyes slowly started to adjust to the darkness that surrounded me. The atmosphere felt almost surreal. Aside from the waves in the distance, the forest itself was dead silent and completely devoid of life, not including the vegetation. There wasn’t even a cricket chirping or slight breeze. Just dead silence.

As I continued walking, I noticed that there was something in the distance on the ground poking out from behind a tree. I initially thought it was a strange log of some sort, but as I continued to move forward, I instantly felt a chill when I realized the “log” I was approaching was actually a dead body. It was too dark for me to determine who it was or what gender they were, but it was, without a doubt, a human corpse. I avert my eyes, not wanting to look at the body for much longer, as I picked up my pace. But as soon as I passed the body, I heard a faint voice coming from the direction of the once living human quietly whisper in my ear:

“Killer.”

Upon hearing that, I sharply turned my head in the direction of the body, thinking that the person may still be alive, but was only met with the sight of what was still a dead corpse.

“That was strange… and incredibly unsettling.” I thought.

I continued to step forward, but I caught myself stopping again as I felt something appear on my hand as soon as I fully passed the body. I look down on my hand and realize that it was a drop of blood.

“Why is there blood on my hand and how did it get there? It didn’t fall judging from the shape of the drop and there is no cut. It looks like it just… appeared there out of nowhere.”

I tried to see if I could wipe the blood as I resumed walking toward the waves, but it wouldn’t come off. It just maintained its position and shape. Not long after, I would come across two more bodies and as soon as I passed them, I heard two more voices whisper in my ear:

“Butcher.”

“Murderer.”

And as I walked by those two as well, in the blink of an eye, two more drops of blood appeared on hands.

At that point, I was now rushing my way to the waves and my pace increased even more. Soon, I would come across more and more bodies lying in front of me in the forest as they increased in numbers and in frequency. For every body I passed, there was another horrible word whispered in my ear as another drop of blood would appear on my hands. My pace gradually quicked to running and the faster I ran, the louder the voices got to the point that it became almost unbearable as I covered my ears while sprinting the rest of the way, no longer trying or paying attention to the blood.

“Killer!”

“Butcher!”

“Murderer!”

“Monster!”

“Demon!”

These were the words that my eardrums were being bombarded by as I charged my way through the forest of bodies. There were so many corpses, I was starting to have trouble seeing the ground as some of them were even piled on top of each other. Eventually, I was able to see the moon shining through the trees, a clear indicator that I was about to make it out and escape this, and I completely booked it and sprinted as hard as my body would let me as I stumbled onto the beach and stopped to catch my breath as I hunched over and put my hands on my knees, the voices now completely mute. But as I did, I noticed my hands. I brought them up and held them in front of my face and, thanks to the bright moonlight, I realized that I had so much blood on my hands. It looked like I was wearing a pair of crimson gloves.

“There’s so much blood on my hands! I need to get it off somehow. Maybe I can wash the blood off in the water?”

As I started heading toward the water, the moonlight was suddenly blocked by a large cloud, thrusting the beach and myself into darkness. However, I was still able to tell where I was going as I listened to the volume of the waves to see if I was getting closer or not, almost like a game of hot and cold. As the sound of crashing waves got louder, I was able to tell I was heading in the right direction. As soon I heard a faint slapping sound under my feet as the ground squashed beneath me, I realized I had made it to the water and picked up my pace, confident in my direction.

I stopped when I was about thigh deep in the water and proceeded to scrub my arms in the water to get the blood off my hands. As I was washing my hands clean in the pitch black, the large cloud that blocked the moon moved out of the way and I was able to see again. But something was very different when the moon and the stars reappeared. During the time the cloud blocked it, the moon had become a blood moon. I would have just chalked it up to some lunar eclipse and brushed it off, but the unsettling part was that just like the moon, the stars in the sky were red as well. It felt so uncanny just looking around in the sky and seeing these bright red orbs in the sky along with the blood moon glaring down at me.

I moved my attention back to my hands as I pulled them out of the water. As I pulled my hands out to get a look at them, I was shocked as I saw that I had made no progress. The blood was still there. I immediately plunged my hands back into the water and scrubbed frantically and intensely, constantly pulling them out to check, but the blood was still there! It wouldn’t come off! I could scrub the blood off my hands no matter how hard I tried! Eventually, I just gave up as I left my hands in the water and just stared down at the red stars reflecting off the surface with a defeated expression.

“Why won’t it come off?” I thought to myself as my mind raced.

As I started to get lost in thought, I was suddenly snapped back into reality by what looked for a split second like two of the stars directly below me flickered.

“What the?”

To make sure I wasn’t seeing things, I focused my gaze exactly where I thought I saw the two stars blink, right below me. As I looked intently, I couldn’t help but notice my reflection in the water. Due to where the moon was in the sky and how I was positioned, my reflection was just a black silhouette below me speckled with red dots all over it due to the stars in the sky.

Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat as two of the red dots positioned at the head of my dark reflection blinked as I quickly realized that wasn’t a reflection I was looking at. I immediately tried to move away the moment I realized the danger I was in, but I wasn’t fast enough as whatever was in the water lunged and grabbed me by my neck pulled me under the surface with it. I tried reaching for my weapons to get the thing off of me so I can escape, but I realized that they weren’t on me. I reached for the next best thing, which was luckily on me, and drew mom’s knife as I started stabbing away at the arms of the thing until it released. Eventually, the grip loosened and I was able to slip out as I trudged and pushed through the water to get back to shore to escape it. I hadn’t even gotten a good look at what was chasing me, but I could hear it pushing through the water just a few yards behind me. I couldn’t afford to slow down because I knew I was just beyond and arm’s length away from the thing.

“Oh my gods!” I thought through my rushing mind. “I was standing above a grimm this entire time! How long was it there? How long were we staring each other face to face!?”

Eventually, I make it to shore and start running as I sneak a glance behind me to get a look at what the grimm pursuing me looked like. What I saw completely rattled me and stopped me in my tracks. It was me! But at the same time... it wasn’t me. It had my shape, my height, my facial features, everything! It was like a grimm version of me complete with piercing red eyes.

I don’t know why, but I felt so... helpless as it approached me as I simply just stood there, similar to how I was frozen in fear in the corner when my mom was torn to shreds or when I encountered the slit-mouth in Oniyuri. Just the sight of it felt overpowering as my demonic doppelganger closed the distance between us. The entire time as it stepped closer to me, it hadn’t made a single sound.

Realizing I still had my knife tightly gripped in my hand, I built up the courage to fight back. I raised the knife and rushed the thing as I tackled it to the ground as it seemingly put no resistance while I repeatedly plunged the knife into its chest in a frantic spree of stabs. The whole time, it hadn’t moved or reacted as it just allowed me to completely unleash on it. As soon as I felt I killed it, I immediately got up and turned around. But as soon as I did so, I was shocked and frozen to see the thing right in front of me again, staring me down.

“I… I killed you!” I shouted at the thing in anger.

I quickly turned around where I thought I killed it and was only met with an empty spot with an imprint in the sand where it was laying. I rushed the thing to stab it again, but it simply caught my hand as it leaned its face close to mine and simply shook its head at me before shoving me back as I landed on my rear trying to scramble away.

“I have nowhere to run!” I thought. “This thing isn’t going to leave me alone and I can’t escape it! I’m not letting myself get killed by a grimm! I refuse to be killed by the same monsters that killed her!”

“I won’t let you have me! You can’t have me!” I shouted with much fear and desperation in my voice.

As soon as I said that, I held the knife out and pointed the blade at me.

“You can’t have me!”

Just before I drove the blade into my chest, the grimm lunged at me with tremendous speed as it wrestled the knife out of my hands before tossing it away and shaking its head at me again. I immediately went for the knife again, but the creature pounced on me and grabbed me by the ankles as it started dragging me toward the water as I vainly tried to reach for the knife. I desperately dug my nails into the sand hoping that would help, but it was a foolish attempt as it was too loose and shifty, causing my fingers to just leave marks in the sand as it simply just raked through the grains.

Eventually I could feel the ground getting more damp, which was a sign that we were getting close to the water. In a last ditch effort, I grab some of the wet sand and hurl it into the grimm’s eyes as it briefly lets go. But before I could even get up to get enough distance, the thing pounced on me as it tried to securely wrap its arms around me to fully restrain me. I tried everything I could to get away. I scratched, I kicked, I punched, I bit, I clawed. I tried just about everything in the book I could physically do. But it was all in vain as it eventually restrained me and picked me up and started carrying me to the water. I hopelessly tried to squirm free as my heart started to race as the water got higher and higher with each step it took.

As the water rose, I did something I never thought I would do with a grimm: I begged for my life.

“Stop! Please! Let me go! Please! I’ll drown! I don’t want to die! Not like this! Not to a grimm! PLEASE! STOP!!! STOP!!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!! I DON’T--”

My screams were swiftly cut off as we were both now completely submerged as my words fell on deaf ears. All I could do now was helplessly as the only thing that managed to get to the surface were the air bubbles I let out. I couldn’t hear anything under the water. The deeper we got, the darker it became and any sounds slowly started to fade around me. But eventually, as my sight started to fade, there was one sound that managed to break through the silence and reach me. It was faint, but I could hear it. It was a voice. Over time, it became more and more clear for me to make out what it said:

“Come on, Simin! Get up! Please, Simin! Please wake up!”

“Wait, what? Wake up?”

* * *

“Come on, Simin! Wake up! Please wake up, Simin!”

I jolted up as I was suddenly shaken awake by somebody gasping and struggling to breathe while in a cold sweat.

“Simin are you--”

As soon as I recognized the voice as Mari’s, I instantly, basically pounced on her and wrapped my arms around her as I cried into her chest. I was left in complete and total distress after what I just experienced in the realm of dreams (or nightmares is more like it). Mari was very surprised and taken aback by this as she didn’t know how to respond to my sudden reaction, but she eventually gently wrapped her arms around me, one arm on the middle of my back and the other with her hand on the back of my head, as I just let the waterfall of emotions flow out of me and sobbed into her shirt.

“Shh. It’s okay, Simin. I’m right here.” She softly whispered as my tears started to soak the front of her shirt, making it more and more damp in the process.

I wasn’t sure how long I was letting it all out, but she never let go the entire time nor did she even so much as shift her position. Eventually, I was able to compose myself a little bit as I was now taking labored breaths, trying to pull myself together. However, she still didn’t let go of me yet as she still held me close and comforted me. It was so quiet that I could now hear her soft heartbeat as my ear was basically pressed against it.

“I-I’m sorry I got your shirt wet.” I quietly say with a bit of a sniffle, my voice a bit muffled into her shirt.

“Don’t worry about it, Simin.” She simply responded.

“Why did you come here?” I asked her.

“I was woken up by a strange noise and after a couple seconds, I realized it was you. You sounded...very distressed. So I rushed over to check on you and found you tossing and turning while screaming in your sleep as if you were being tormented by something.”

“Oh. I’m sorry I woke you.” I don’t know why, but I felt the need to apologize.

“Again: don’t worry about it.” She said, still holding me.

There were a few seconds of silence.

“What’s wrong, Simin?” She speaks up. I pull away and look Mari in the eyes as I answer her question with one of my own.

“I… I-I don’t know. I don’t know, Mari. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I answer back in a quiet, shaky voice.

“Hm.” Mari says to herself as she looks down and to the side as if she’s thinking of something. Her face suddenly lights up as if she’s come up with an idea. “Come with me.”

“Wh-what?” I ask, not knowing what’s up her sleeve.

“Come on. It’s okay. Trust me.” She says in the most reassuring tone possible as she gets up and holds out her hand to me.

After some consideration, I ultimately put my trust in her and reach out and take it as she pulls me to my feet. As I got up, I noticed that she still hadn’t let go of my hand as she then started to lead me out of my tent.

“Where are we going?” I ask, a bit unsure of what she is planning.

“Don’t worry, Simin. We’re just going to go for a walk is all if that’s okay.” She says, still maintaining her soft, reassuring voice.

“Okay.” I mutter as I let her lead me through the camp.

Eventually, we ended up stopping at a nearby watchtower.

“Psst! Hey Jeremiah!” Mari loudly whispered from the bottom of the ladder. “Jerry, are you awake?”

“Huh? Mari is that you?” I hear a voice from the top of the tower call out.

“Yeah it’s me.” Mari answers back.

“Alright, come on up.” The voice calls.

“Alright, Simin. Do you think you can climb?” Mari asks as she gets down on one knee to level with me.

I simply nod in return. Though my injuries still hurt a bit, I think I should be able to make it to the top.

“Alright. You go first, okay? I’ll be right behind you.” She says.

I then place one hand on the rung of the ladder and then raise my leg to plant my foot on another rung. I then slowly ascend as I gradually pick up my rhythm all the way to the top. I eventually reach the top of the watch tower with Mari soon following suit. At the top stood a tall, dark skinned man. Average build. A little bit of stubble on his face.

“Hey, Mari. How’ve you been?” The man asked as he brought the ladder up and started to lower it on the other side of the wall, outside the camp.

“I’m doing well, Jerry. Thank you. How are you?” Mari answered. The way she talked to him was very casual, almost like they’ve been friends for years or were close acquaintances.

“Doing alright. Thanks for asking.” He answered. “So, you taking the new kid with you, I take it?” He asked, continuing the conversation while I awkwardly stood there, completely mute.

“Yeah. He had a nightmare and something is bothering him. So I’m going to take him for a little walk.” She says, gesturing to me.

“Ah. I see. What’s your name, kid?” Jeremiah asks, turning his attention to me, slightly crouching down.

“S-Simin.” I answer, voice shaky from the dream that has left me rattled.

“Well nice to meet you, Simin. I’m Jeremiah. People here call me ‘Jerry’.” He introduces himself to me.

“Except for Sophia, who calls him ‘Remy’.” Mari chimed in to which Jeremiah just chuckled to himself before sticking his hand out to me. I stared for a bit before weakly grasping it as he gives it a slight squeeze and a shake before letting go and turning his attention back to Mari.

“He’s a bit of a shy one, isn’t he?” Jeremiah comments.

“Yeah, a little bit. So anyway, do you have the basket, Jerry?” Mari asks, getting to what I assume to be the chase.

“You know I always have it ready for you, Mari.” He answered with a laugh. “Here you go.”

Jeremiah, then walks to a corner in the watchtower and fetches a basket with a cloth covering it that sat next to a rifle leaning on the wall. He then walked back over and handed the basket to Mari.

“Thank you, Jerry.” Mari replies.

“Anytime, Mari. Now you be safe you two. Got it?”

“We will.” Mari replies before turning her attention to me. “Alright, Simin. I’m going to climb down first and you go right after me okay?”

I nod in response.

Mari then climbs over the wall and gradually descends the ladder, her basket hooked around her elbow. I then follow suit, careful not to lose my footing or my grip so I don’t accidentally fall. Eventually I make it to the bottom as Mari greets me.

“Are you ready to go?” She asks.

“Y-yes. I think so.” I reply.

“Alright then come on.” She speaks as she holds out her hand again.

I then take her soft, warm hand in mine as she leads me through the cold, dark forest. Judging from the pace we were walking and the lack of change in direction, she knew exactly where she was taking me as we moved with a purpose.

“So yeah, that’s Jeremiah.” Mari speaks up. “He’s the night watchman for that tower and also covers for me whenever I sneak out to do stuff like this. During the day, he mainly assists in preparing lunch and dinner as well as serving it. He’s honestly a very compassionate and understanding guy even though he does take his duties pretty seriously. Due to him mainly working food duty, he’s basically the ‘unofficial head chef’ of the camp. So during lunch and dinner hours, we call him 'Chef Jerry’ or in Sophia’s case, she’ll call him ‘Chef Remi’. So… what do you think of him?”

“He’s… surprisingly nice for a bandit.” I quietly say.

“Yeah, I know right?” Sophia says in agreeance. “He’s one of the last people you’d picture holding a gun.” She slightly chuckles.

Just then, a slight breeze began to blow through and instantly filled me with chills due to the large gaping hole in my shirt from the fight. All I really had to keep me warm was the bandages that wrapped around my torso. My instant reaction, without thinking, was to basically hug Mari’s arm for any extra warmth, which almost caused her to stumble.

“Cold?” Mari asks with an empathetic smile, looking down to me as we stopped in our tracks.

“Mhm.” I say with a slight shiver.

“Here. Take this.” Mari then proceeded to place the basket on the ground as she then removed her jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

“But what about--”

“Don’t worry about me, Simin.” Mari dismisses my concerns. “The cold isn’t a concern to me. Just stay warm for me, alright?”

“O-okay.” I say as we resume our walk.

After some time, I began to wonder when we were getting to our destination.

“Hey Mari. When are we going to get to where we’re going?” I ask.

“We actually just arrived. Look.” Mari then points in the distance and I can see a faint glow as well as a cluster of small yellowish green lights flickering and moving about.

We begin to pick up pace and we came upon a small clearing. There was a small, clear pond or pool of sorts with various kinds of animals both water bound and amphibious moving about. The fireflies also began to move around more as their flickering got more excited, almost like they had been waiting for us and were acknowledging our arrival. Beside the pond, there sat a large willow tree that hung over the pond as its streamer-like appendages barely touched the surface of the water. Due to the clear night sky, it was almost as if the moon was shining a spotlight on this place as it was the only place that was lit as the moon perfectly reflected a mirrored image off the surface.

“So what do you think, Simin? It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Mari asked in a calm tone as she gestured to the surrounding area.

“Yeah.” I say, completely immersed in the environment. “It’s really nice.”

It kinda reminds me of the fountain at La Estrella Marketplace back at home.

“I always loved this place.” Mari continues. “Whenever I’m just under a lot of stress or have a lot on my mind or am just having a bad day, I will come here and just… take it all in. It helps clear my head and makes me more composed. It’s... soothing, you know?” Mari then removes her shoes as she takes a seat under the willow tree and wades her feet in the cool water, rolling up her leggings past her knees as she did so so they wouldn’t get soaked in the process.

“Yeah. I know what you mean.” I say back.

“Come on. Come join me.” Mari invited, patting the ground beside her.

“W-what?” I stammer as the memory of my dream returns.

“Come join me, Simin.” She gestures for me to come over.

“I-I’d rather stay over here away from the water if that’s okay.” I say as I back up to the base of the tree.

“Is something wrong, Simin?” She asked me as her voice had a hint of concern in it.

“I just don’t want to go near the water is all.” I answer her.

“What’s wrong with the water?" She asks me.

“You have nothing to worry about, Simin.” She tries to reassure me as she gets up and walks toward me and kneels down to my level. Nothing is going to jump out of the water to get you, okay? And even in case of the off chance something does, I won’t let it get you. Okay? That’s a promise.”

“O-okay.” I hesitantly responded. “I’ll hold you to that.”

In response, Mari let out a giggle and guided me as I walked with her toward the water as she retook her spot. I then remove my shoes and take a seat next to her as I join her and dip my feet in as well, her soft, warm jacket still lightly sitting on my shoulders.

After getting seated, I look in the reflection of the small pond and examine it. It’s completely normal. Just me. No red eyes. No dark, shadowy body. Just my normal reflection. In response to this, I let out a mental sigh of relief as I go back to examining my reflection.

I really do have my mother’s looks. People always did say I looked more related to her than I did to my dad.

“Here.” Mari says, as she reaches into her basket, slightly snapping me out of it.

“What Is she reaching for?” I mentally asked myself.

As Mari turned back to me with the object in her hand, a sudden feeling of nostalgia hit me like a truck as I stared down blankly at the object sitting in her hand: a loaf of bread.

“Is something wrong, Simin?” Mari asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder and leaning her head down to make sure I was okay.

“Uh… n-no. No. Thank you, Mari.” I say as I snap out of it and take the loaf from her hand.

“Are you sure? You can tell me if something’s wrong.” Mari asks, looking at me quizzically.

“Y-yeah. It’s… it’s just that I haven’t done this in a while is all-- especially with company.” I then start picking off pieces of the bread and toss it into the pool as the fish inside would swim up and gobble it down.

“Oh really?” Mari says as we were now conversing while pulling apart our pieces of bread.

“Yeah. Back at home, there used to be this beautiful fountain with a star statue that would glow in the moonlight. Whenever I had a nightmare or if I just couldn’t sleep, I would sneak out and go over to feed the animals there.” I answer.

“Oh. That sounds really nice. I guess that means we have similar hobbies then.”

For a few minutes, Mari and I sat in silence as we picked our pieces of bread apart and tossed them in while listening to the crickets chirp in the background as well as the occasional croak of a frog. It wasn’t much longer until the environment was able to help me compose myself enough to get my thoughts out in regards to what is bothering me. Eventually, I spoke up.

“Mari, what am I?” I ask as if she actually had the answer to my question.

“I’m… not sure I know what you mean, Simin? What do you mean exactly?” Mari asks, not quite following.

“Am I a monster? Am I just some cold-blooded killer whose nature it is to take lives?”

Mari responds with a slight sigh as if she wasn’t exactly sure how to answer before she began speaking.

“To be honest, Simin, it’s not my place to answer that. That is usually something for you to decide. But however, I will say this: when I look at you and interact with you, I see a good person in a bad place (not literally). And when I say 'bad place', I don't mean physically, but mentally." She says as she taps the side of m head with her finger. "You’re a good kid, Simin. I know it. But you are also someone who is suffering and dealing with your own personal demons. You had everything held dear to you stripped away by a cruel and merciless world and you were forced to fend for yourself. You’ve been through a lot and were pushed to your breaking point. So in my opinion, you are not a killer and you are certainly no monster. You are someone who has been through and is still going through a lot. But what you need is to figure out how to cope with it and put it behind you.”

Another few moments of silence pass until I decide to speak up again.

“Mari,...” I say looking at the moonlight shining off the surface of the pool. “...before I came here, when I was still out there in the wilderness, before I started heading to Kuroyuri, my original destination was a rising village named Oniyuri. But when I got there, the town was completely abandoned. Not a single living soul. I and Bruno eventually ended up having a run-in with a beowolf. I was absolutely terrified, but I ended up beating it (with a bit of help from Bruno).

“When the beowolf was on the ground about to die, before I finished it off, I crouched down and coldly looked it dead in the eyes just inches away from its face before reaching into its mouth and shooting it. At first, I thought I was conquering my fears and demons and putting them behind me. But now that I look back at it, maybe I wasn’t actually conquering my demons. Maybe I was just starting to take their place and becoming what I hated: a monster just like the grimm. When I took down that beowolf, I think I may have ended up taking what was left of myself down with it.”

“Simin, stop! Don’t talk like that!” Mari said firmly.

“How could I not, Mari?!” I exclaim. “You saw what happened in that fight! You were there! You saw everything!”

“Simin, what I saw was you defending yourself.”

“Yeah, until I wasn’t anymore.” I added.

Upon saying that, there was a couple seconds of silence.

“Simin,...” Mari said as she was the first to resume the conversation. “...were you going to kill that man back there?”

I could only stay silent, reluctant to respond.

“Simin... answer me please.” Mari said, placing her hand on my shoulder, maintaining her comforting tone.

I eventually gave in and took a deep breath before answering her.

“I wanted to, to be honest.” I responded. “And I was going to… until you stopped me that is. When you grabbed my wrist, you snapped me out of it. But as soon as I was aware of what I almost did, it felt as if my mind and body were at odds with each other-- like a civil war being waged inside of me with me as the battleground.”

“Well I’m glad you didn’t. Because if you did, we’d probably be singing a different song right now if you even lived long enough considering Vernal would have shot you on the spot. She was actually about to shoot you as you started approaching him with the knife. I stopped her before she did it and told her to let me handle it, which she did. I tried calling out your name to get your attention, but you weren’t listening. It wasn’t until I grabbed your wrist that you started to relax a bit. If I hadn’t stopped you when I did, you would be dead.”

“Mari, why do you still do this for me? Why are you still here?” I struggle to ask her. “I’ve murdered six of your own! I hit you in the head with a rock! I’ve attacked your character! I almost murdered another one of your own right in front of you! But you’re still here! Despite what I’ve done and what I’ve tried to do, you haven’t left! Why do you keep trying with me?!”

“Simin,...” She spoke up. “...I’ve said it before and I will say it again: I’m not giving up on you no matter what. I’m going to help you, Simin, and I’m going to be here for you. I will save you from whatever it is that’s plaguing you, even if it means I have to save you from yourself.”

“But Mari, I’ve crossed a line that there’s no coming back from. What is there left to save? I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have gotten a second chance.”

“Simin!” Mari firmly spoke up as I immediately quieted down.

Mari then placed both hands on each side of my head and gently moved my gaze to meet hers as I was now looking at her square in her emerald eyes and placed her hands on my shoulders.

“Sorry to raise my voice at you, but listen closely to what I’m about to say, okay? What’s done is done. You can’t change what you did in the past. So instead of lingering in it, learn from it. Grow from it. Don’t let it control you and don’t let it define who you are. The person you are today and the person you will be tomorrow doesn't have to be the same person you were yesterday. Don't let the person you were yesterday hold back the person you are today or you end up hurting the person you will be tomorrow. Don’t let your past become your anchor. Yes, Simin, what you’ve done is something that can never be undone as there is no going back from it. But you still have your humanity. You have the power to let it stop there and leave it behind and move forward. I know it. But what matters is do you think you have what it takes to move on and grow?” Mari looked at me patiently waiting for my answer.

How can this girl be so… compassionate toward someone like me after knowing the things I’ve done. She almost saw me do it again tonight and she still continues to treat me with the same kindness she treated me with from when we first interacted a few nights ago. She should despise me for what I’ve done, but she doesn’t. She’s expressed concern for me. She’s comforted me. She doesn’t even seem afraid or hateful of me one bit. She’s still here. Why? Why would she show me this kindness? I don’t deserve any of it, but here she is, treating me like an actual human being instead of the monster that I believed myself to be turning into.

“I… I don’t know.” I muttered under my breath.

“What was that?”

“I said I don’t know.” I repeated more audibly, my voice slightly breaking.

“Simin.” Mari said with a sigh. “These are questions you need to answer for yourself. I can’t answer them for you. ‘I don’t know’ isn’t going to cut it. ‘Yes’ or ‘no’? There is no in between with this. So again: do you think you have what it takes to move on and grow? Do you think you have what it takes to hold onto your humanity?”

Deep down, I felt like I knew I had my answer, but I wasn’t sure if I had any right to say it. But eventually, I did pull it out of me:

“I… I think so. Yes.”

“That’s better.” Mari responded with a smile and pulled me into a quick hug. “Don’t let yourself become your own worst enemy, Simin, okay?”

There's those words again. The last time I heard those words was with the last talk I had with my father (even though he did all the talking). Immediately thinking back to that night, I sort of instinctively leaned my head on her shoulder just like I did with my father that night as we both gazed down at the moon’s reflection, shining it’s pale face down on us. Mari responded by putting her hand on my back and rubbed it as a way of consoling me.

“But… I don’t know if I’m right to think that.” I spoke up again after a few moments of silence between us two.

“Well all I can really say to that, Simin, is you will know sooner or later. There are some questions that only time holds the true answers to.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right… Only time will tell.”

We then sat there for a bit with another brief period of silence. After a couple minutes of us just taking in the moonlight, another subject began to fill my mind.

“Mari?”

“Hm?” Mari responded.

“Do you think Raven is right?”

“About what?” She asks.

“Raven told me this morning about how it is a cruel and merciless world out there. And a few minutes ago, you said the same thing and called the world cruel and merciless as well. Raven told me that the only way to survive in a cruel and merciless world is to be just as cruel and merciless and that there was no room for things like mercy, kindness, and compassion. That makes me wonder. Do you think she’s right? I just want to know what your stance is on it.”

Mari, in response to my question, looked away as if she was thinking about how she was going to phrase her answer.

“Though Raven and I have similar views of the world and how it works, it is the only thing we really have in common. Her way of going about it and handling it isn’t one that I particularly agree with. And it looks like she’s already made known to you her ‘any means necessary’/’survival of the fittest’ mind set. Her heart is in the right place, but her mentality isn’t. Raven, at the end of the day, just wants to live and protect those she deems most important to her. Take the tribe for example. I’ve never met someone more dedicated to a group of people who is willing to go to any lengths to preserve their well being than her. I would say it’s almost admirable, but I just wish that she didn’t do it in a way that it comes at the expense of others. Like I said, her heart is in the right place. I’m sure of it, but… I don’t believe cruelty and mercilessness is the way to go about it.”

“Then what do you think is the way to go about it?” I ask curiously.

“I know this might sound cliché, but personally, I believe just remaining strong and pushing through hard times in a way that doesn’t result in the suffering of others is how to go about a world like this. ‘Live by example’ is my motto. Show people what it means to be a decent person. We can’t lose sight of what connects us all. We can’t lose sight of our humanity. But at some point down the line, that is what ended up happening. If we could just see ourselves for what we really are, then maybe we can start working toward something better.

“Yes, the world is a cruel and unforgiving one, but it isn’t the constant chaotic warzone Raven makes it out to be where the only way to survive is to murder anyone in our path to be the last one standing and crush anyone to stay standing. We shouldn’t just treat it like it’s some dog eat dog warzone. That type of mentality will only create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Is it a perfect world? No. Far from it. But I feel like people don’t have to suffer or die in order for others to get their way. Just because no one is there or strong enough to stop you doesn’t mean you should start doing it. Raven sees strength in a cruel and merciless world as surviving by any means necessary. I see strength in a cruel and merciless world as enduring whatever the world throws at us and never giving up and pushing through the hard times to get to the better times while never losing sight of who you are. Yes, the world is cruel, but mentalities and methods like Raven’s will only contribute to keeping it that way. I know it’s not that simple or easy, but in a world like this, what is?”

“I see.”

I sit in silence for a bit and contemplate Mari’s words to myself as we resume picking our bread apart and feeding the fish. Eventually, finishing our bread picking, Mari would speak up again.

“Well…” She says as she stands up and puts her shoes back on. “I think we should call it a night here.”

“Wait, Mari. Can I ask you something?” I ask her as I put my shoes back on as well.

“What is it, Simin?” Mari acknowledges.

“Do you think… we could maybe do this more often? You know just come out here and just talk and feed the fish?”

“Yeah, of course.” Mari agrees. “Whenever you’re feeling stressed or have another nightmare or if you just need to talk, just let me know and we’ll come out here and we can do this again. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Mari then reaches her hand out again as I grab it and she leads me back to camp.

* * *

“Thanks again, Jerry.” Mari waves from the bottom of the ladder as Jeremiah let us back into camp the same way we had exited.

“Anytime, Mari.” He answers back.

“Well, I’m going to go back to bed now.” Mari says with a yawn as she stretches her arms. “You can keep my jacket for tonight to keep yourself warm. If you need me, I’m just a couple tents down from yours, okay?”

“Um Mari?” I ask with a hint of shyness and embarrassment in my voice.

“Yes, Simin?”

“I hope it’s not weird for me to ask, but is it okay if I sleep with you tonight?” My cheeks instantly grew red from embarrassment upon making this request. “It’s just that after that nightmare, I just don’t feel comfortable sleeping by myself tonight and I don’t want to be alone.”

As I waited for an answer, I hear Mari giggle a bit.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, worried she might say no.

“Sorry. I’m laughing at myself, not you. It’s just that sometimes after all you've been through, I sometimes forget that you’re still a kid at the end of the day.”

“So does that mean…”

“Come on, Simin.” She says warmly and gently as she gestures to me to come over, stretching out her arm with an open hand at the end.

I approach Mari and take it as I let her lead me to her tent. When we were about to reach her tent I began to think about earlier.

“Mari?”

“Yes, Simin?”

“After I ran off, what happened?” I ask her, curious to know what happened after the fight.

“Well let’s see.” Mari says, crossing one arm across her body and holding her other hand under her cheek. “The guy you knocked out did eventually wake up not remembering a thing (either because he was drunk out of his mind or because you gave him amnesia), but he did have a broken nose, a concussion, a few missing teeth, some cuts on his face and arm from the bottle, and a black eye. Even if he did remember what happened, I doubt he would be bothering you again. He was so confused when he woke up, he was asking around what had happened. I made up a story to him saying that he got drunk and challenged Vernal to a fight and lost horribly. As for Vernal, I also tried to convince her not to report what happened to Raven. She wasn’t having it, but I did manage to come up with a compromise that worked for her. She will still report what happened to Raven, but will not mention you by name or even refer to you in any way.”

“Do you think she’ll stay faithful to that?” I ask a bit worried.

“Don’t worry, Simin. She’ll keep her word. I know she will. She’s not the deceitful type.” Mari reassured me.

During our conversation, we eventually reach Mari’s tent. On the inside, it was a bit dark for me to see, but I could see that there was a large cot with a sheet over it and a large, thick blanket and two fluffy pillows. It looked so comfortable. Like I could just pass out the second I laid down on it. It's been a long time since I’ve slept on an actual bed (or anything akin to one).

“Hey Mari?” I say looking up at her.

“Yes?”

“Is there any way to repair my shirt? I got a huge hole in it from the fight.”

“Ican give it to Sophia to repair it.” She suggested.

“Oh. Okay.” I say as I remove my shoes again to climb onto the cot and under the warm blanket and lay on my stomach. Mari then walks to the other side of the cot and lifts the blanket to climb in as she does the same.

“Thank you, Mari.” I say aloud after a few moments of silence. “Thank you for everything.”

“Anytime, Simin.” She answers with a sleepy voice. “I’m always here if you need me so if something is bothering you or worrying you and you just need to talk or anything, I’m here.”

“Now that you mention it, there is one thing.” I speak up

“What is it?”

“Should I be worried?” I ask vaguely.

“Don’t worry. Vernal won’t rat you out.” Mari assures me, assuming what I was referring to.

“No, not that. About Sophia repairing my shirt.” I clarify

“Oh. Don’t worry. She’s actually a pretty good seamstress. She’s also pretty good at giving haircuts as well. But anyway, you have nothing to worry about.” She assures me again.

Sophia’s one I feel a bit uneasy about, but if Mari says she can do it, then I’ll take her word for it.

“Also Mari, one last thing…”

“Yes, Simin? What is it?”

“You can call me Sim.”

**CHAPTER END**

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Hey, everyone!

I want to start this off with a brief announcement of sorts. In three days, classes are going to be resuming for me, which means I'm not entirely sure if I will be completely able to post every other Friday like I usually do (even though the last chapter was about two days late or something). I will try to maintain my normal posting schedule, but I can't make any promises if the workload starts to get in the way too much since that has to come first. I will still be posting chapters regardless, but as for when I post all depends on how busy I am. Worst case scenario, I will simply just go on hiatus and start posting again once the semester is over. But I don't think it will come to that.

I also wanted to give you a quick update on where I am with revising. I'm still currently revising chapter 19 and I'm about 1/3 of the way through. The whole chapter is pretty much one big fight scene and is one of the biggest chapters in this volume. It's slightly shorter than chapter 11, but I have a feeling it might be longer by the time the editing for it is complete. And then there is chapter 20, which might be around the same length since that one also has a big fight scene. 

Anyway, I really hope this chapter was better than the last one. We already know how I felt about chapter 11 and I think most of you would agree that it was a weak chapter. So I hope this one was an improvement from the last.

In this chapter, Simin is now finally starting to bounce back and recover from the things that had occurred throughout the first half of this volume. But his struggle isn't over yet as he is now on the road to rebuilding himself and still has more growing and learning to do with Raven essentially being a mentor figure to him and Mari being a more kind, compassionate, and nurturing character, who pretty much keeps him from going overboard and is a moral compass of sorts for him. We also learn a bit about Mari in this chapter and find out that she has clashing ideologies with Raven as the two are pretty much polar opposites. But because of the two having clashing ideologies and being polar opposites, that raises the question, "Why is Mari even a part of Raven's tribe at all if she doesn't agree with her methods and way of thinking?" Well that is a question to be answered for another time. 

Also, the talk between Mari and Simin almost didn't happen at the pond like it did in the chapter. Originally, I did have it take place at the pond, but then I thought that I should save the pond for a later chapter and took it out and had their talk take place in Simin's tent. But when I went back to reread it when I was editing, I felt like having it take place at the pond would have actually been better, so I moved it back to what I originally had at the last second.

Anyway, with that said, we are officially done with Act 3 and we are now moving onto Act 4, which is the shortest act in the whole volume as it is only 3 chapters long. Act 4 will take place after a three month time skip and will pretty much be about Raven teaching Simin a tough lesson regarding her ideologies and viewpoints. We will also be getting Raven's backstory (one that I made up) as well as an answer in regards to the other reason why Raven saved Simin from death. So in other words, the purpose of this act is to give development between Raven and Simin. 

Lastly, even though I said, that no other Team SLVR members appear in Volume 1, Act 4 has a heavy tie-in with the backstory of one of the Team SLVR members. But even though this act will have a heavy tie-in with a future SLVR member, I should let you know that they will not make any physical appearances, but they will get a name drop and a "cameo" of sorts through a drawing. I won't say which member it's going to be, but I will give a vague and subtle hint on who it might be (because I don't want to make it too obvious): December 29th.

Anyway, after giving that hint, I will leave you with fun fact #12:

Fun Fact #12: The dream sequence in this chapter was originally completely different from what I had here and was much, much more trippy. When I was editing the chapter for posting, I decided to completely scrap the original dream sequence and just replace it with the completely different one you read in this chapter.


	13. Volume I: Act IV: Set-Up:

(Quick disclaimer: this is NOT chapter 13, but rather filler/recap/set-up chapter for Act IV (chapters 13-15):

Three months later: December 28th:

"You really wanna do this right now, kid?" The bandit cracked, looking at me as if I were just some eager challenger biting off more than I can chew.

He was much bigger than me and looked like he could easily beat me with little to no effort given our size difference. Literally just moments prior to this, I saw two bandits engaging in an arm wrestling competition and I, being curious about how I would fare, decided to challenge one of them. But he responded with a simple chuckle as if he took what I said as a joke, clearly not taking me seriously as he brushed me off. It wasn't until I hopped up on a crate and got in his face a bit that he realized I was serious. Normally I'm not the antagonistic type, but one thing I've learned after living with these people for the past three months is that if you want something, you have to be assertive... and a little bit aggressive.

"Are you afraid I'll embarrass you in front of everyone?" I respond tauntingly as I call him out, looking at him with challenging eyes.

"Oho! So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Okay. Let's go! You can help me warm up for my actual challenge." The bandit gives a sly grin as I hop off the crate and he firmly plants his elbow down onto the crate between us and opens his hand for me to take it.

"Actual challenge? So I'm not a challenge to this guy in his eyes. I can't wait to wipe the smug grin off his face when I beat him."

I grasp the man's hand with a tight grip as he does mine as I look him dead in the eyes, letting him know that I will come at him with everything I have and fully expecting that he will do the same to me. We then silently wait for the man officiating to give us the us signal to start. In a few seconds we hear it:

"Aaand BEGIN!"

And just like that, our arm wrestling contest had begun. I instantly felt immense pressure push back against my hand as my arm tried to push against his with greater force.

"You have a pretty good grip kid. Not to mention you're actually surprisingly strong... for a pipsqueak." My opponent says as his breath visibly exits his mouth and into the thin, cold air of Winter.

I stay silent as I push harder, my arm starting to build up an intense burning sensation.

I know out of context, this whole arm wrestling challenge probably seems pretty random and probably makes no sense at all. But after all my training recently, I wanted to test my strength in an arm wrestling competition. So while me and my opponent are deadlocked in this struggle, allow me to go through a brief rundown of some of the things that happened during the past three months since I first joined.

Speaking of which, as I just said, three months have passed since I joined Raven's tribe. For a short while, most of the other bandits were very indifferent or apathetic toward me while others just didn't take too kindly to me at all. Though they never made it known I could tell. It was probably because they saw me as just some snotty nosed kid who just waltzed in here (even though I was actually carried in here (not that that helps my case)) and they thought that I was getting special treatment from Raven when she allowed me to join. Most of the time, they would just give me the cold shoulder and not give me the time of day. Sometimes, they would grow quiet whenever I would walk by a chatting group as they dropped an occasional glance in my direction to see if I was gone or far away enough before they would continue. However, I usually just chalked that up to them maybe talking about something that isn't appropriate for kids, but that's just me trying to be optimistic. The only people who would even acknowledge me or give me even a single moment of their time from the start were Mari (obviously), Vernal, Jeremiah (even though he was usually busy when I saw him) Sophia, and Raven (although those times for Raven were rare and only really when it was time for us to train). Speaking of which, I rarely ever saw Raven during her free time. She was always gone for the rest of the day right after we train and she always left like she had somewhere else to be.

Out of the five I mentioned, Mari is easily my favorite to be around.

Jeremiah is alright, but I rarely see him since he works all the time. He definitely takes his roles seriously.

Sophia is... well... she kinda annoys me a bit. I don't dislike her, but she's a bit overbearing toward me most of the time. Not to mention there's that damn nickname she continues to call me by: "Lu". I still don't get it. Why 'Lu'? There is literally no part of my name that even remotely sounds close to that. So why 'Lu'? I just... can't wrap my head around that. It makes zero sense to me. It honestly really annoys me to the point that I would do just about anything to hear her call me by my actual name for once. I know it sounds like I'm just being a stick in the mud or something, but it just feels like she's addressing me as if I'm a completely different person entirely and it just bothers me for some reason. Maybe I'm just being weird. I don't know. Is it right for me to feel that way or am I just taking it too seriously?

Anyway, -sorry, I went on a tangent for a bit- then there's Vernal, who I'm pretty sure just hates me. I can probably guess why, but I'll get to that in a bit.

And then there's Raven, no introduction needed.

So by process of elimination, Mari is easily the one I feel most comfortable around, which is partially why I spend most of my time with her. But then again, the process of elimination is irrelevant here though because I honestly just prefer time with her regardless.

However, back to the tribe, they did eventually start to warm up to me. I would slowly start to gain their trust and acceptance by volunteering to help out Jeremiah with things around the place like serving lunch, building the fires for dinner, and even sometimes assisting in preparing food. It was even the first time I helped skin a deer. Speaking of, I never thought skinning a deer would be so messy. Is it supposed to be messy? Anyway, by doing that, it allowed me to interact with the other tribe members more as I slowly started to grow on them over time. Nowadays, they sort of see me as the 'little brother' of the group.

Moving on, as for the incident- you know, where I almost murdered that guy- , I still felt pretty terrible about it and went to apologize to Vernal the next day since she was the one in charge that night. It went a little something like this:

. . .

Three Months Earlier: September 20th: The day after the fight:

"Hey, Vernal?" I said with a bit of a timid voice afraid she would snap at me.

When I was approaching her, she was already cleaning her weapons, so giving her the apology after seeing that she already had her weapons out was a bit nerve wracking.

"What is it, Simin?" She said with a sigh as her tone pretty much told me that she wanted me to make this quick so I could stop bothering her.

"I...um-"

"Kid, spit it out or stop wasting my time." She rushed me.

I quickly learned that she is not a very patient person and a bit irritable.

"I just... wanted to apologize for yesterday- about the fight. I- I don't know what ca-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Simin. Now don't get me wrong, that guy was being a dick and he deserved the ass kicking you gave him. But that stunt you pulled after the fight was already over would have resulted in there being two dead bodies if you had gone through with it. You're lucky Mari covered your ass when she did otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. But just know this: you won't get another chance to do that. In other words, if you even so much as consider threatening the life of a tribe member and Raven isn't there, meaning that I will be left in charge for the time being, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger next time. Got it?" She threatened as she brandished her weapon at me.

"Y-yes." I say with a bit of a shaky voice and a nervous gulp.

"I have my eye on you, kid." Vernal warned.

Vernal can be scary at times. She's still not as scary as Raven though.

I would end it there and say that was all that there was when I approached Vernal, but we ended up getting interrupted by an intruding voice.

"So that's what happened last night?" I heard a voice say from behind a cloth we were sitting by. It startled both of us and caused us to sharply turn our heads toward the direction of the voice as the owner of it stepped out from the cover as we realized it was Sophia.

"Dammit, Sophia! Can you go one day without eavesdropping?!" Vernal yelled.

She's pretty good at sneaking. I didn't even notice her there.

"Sorry, but when you're good at something, it's kinda hard for you not to do it." She excused in a bit of a 'sorry, not sorry' tone.

"Oh, like your gambling hobby?" Vernal responded mockingly, clearly taking a jab at her as she was still feeling the initial annoyance of Sophia eavesdropping us.

Sophia paused for a second as she also briefly adopted a bit of an annoyed look.

"Low blow." She said with a serious voice as it sounded like she took that jab a bit personally as Vernal and I shared a sudden flash of confusion in our eyes.

Judging from last night, they seemed like the type of friends who constantly rib on each other and give jabs, so Sophia's sudden change in tone from Vernal's remark caught me off guard. Vernal must have accidentally touched a nerve with that comment. Maybe she's actually really self-conscious about her horrible gamling skill? Though neither of us knew exactly why Sophia's demeanor briefly changed for a second after that to a more serious and slightly hurt one (something I wouldn't have expected from her), I noticed a glint of guilt in Vernal for a split second as she averted her gaze, her expression still remaining the same as she realized that she actually hurt her friend with that comment.

"Anyway." She continued as she hastily and quickly readopted her more casual, but slightly upbeat, tone. "I was wondering why there were broken glass shards and drops of blood on the ground this morning. I just chalked it up to there being another drunken brawl and that I just missed it."

"How long were you standing there?" I chime back in.

"Long enough." She bluntly answers. "Anyway, back to what you two were saying: so is it actually true that 'Lu' here was the one who kicked his ass?" Sophia asked before she took a seat next to us and leaned in.

"Damn, she can be nosy!"

I just looked away with a bit of an uncomfortable look as I still felt a bit guilty about what transpired after until I eventually answered her.

"Y-yeah. That was me." I say quietly. "I'm sorry."

"I need to stop apologizing so much."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Sophia said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"'Don't worry about it'?!" Vernal speaks up, audibly annoyed at Sophia's casual dismissiveness. "He almost killed one of us. You realize that, right?"

"But did he though?" Sophia questioned as if she had a point.

"That doesn't matter! He was going to and he would have been next on the chopping block if he had." Vernal indirectly threatened as she sent an obvious glance in my direction.

"Hey, don't threaten him!" Sophia said before she, without warning, pulled me backward into a protective, overbearing, vice-like hug before talking to me. "'Lu', if Vernal ever tries to hurt you, you let me know and I'll kick her ass for you."

Despite her intentions, that didn't make me feel any safer. Especially given the fact she was basically constricting the life out of me and causing me immense pain because MY WOUNDS WEREN'T FULLY HEALED AT THE TIME!

Sophia, for some reason, is almost always overbearing toward me whenever I'm around her. Not sure why though, but I wish she'd dial it down. Otherwise she might actually squeeze me to death one of these days. But I have to admit she isn't all bad though. Aside from her overbearingness, she does seem like a genuine and caring person deep down underneath all that... uh... 'quirkiness'? Yeah, let's just go with that for now until I can think of a better, more accurate word.

Actually, you know what, I think patchy would be a more fitting word. She has her ups, but she also certainly has her downs. She's a bit of a mixed bag. She's caring, but she can also be overbearing. She's loyal, but she can also be very stubborn. She's also a pretty quick thinker, but she can also be a bit impulsive. For every good quality she has, there is a bad one right behind it. But at least she tries, I guess,... to an extent. Aside from that, she did eventually come through with my shirt and patched it up, so I'll give her that.

The only time I usually spend around Sophia is when she's giving me haircuts (which she is surprisingly good at), which is the only time I actually like being around her because, believe it or not, Sophia apparently has a more tame and calm side and it's usually when she's giving me haircuts that I actually get to see and experience it. It's honestly nice for a change considering how she is most of the time. She's actually the one who's been giving me trims since I joined and keeps my hair from getting too out of control. Since I have nowhere to run during those times, it's one of the few times Sophia and I have our talks (which is also why she likes to take extra long with me when cutting my hair). I remember the first time I tried asking Mari to give me a haircut and... well... let's just say it wasn't going well and Sophia had to step in and take it from there. Yeah, Mari Isn't a very good barber. I guess that explains why she keeps her hair so long.

During my haircuts, Sophia sometimes tells me some of her stories of things she's experienced since being part of the tribe. Most of them were pretty ordinary and didn't stick with me much, but there was one that really stuck with me because it involved Raven. It was the time she got kidnapped.

She was out scouting a caravan one day and, unfortunately for her, it was very well-guarded and she ended up getting apprehended by some of the armed guards and they pretty much took her to the village the caravan was heading to and tried to get her to reveal the location of the tribe so they could report it to the Mistral authorities who they had already contacted and were on their way, which meant that Sophia had to stay tightlipped and hope that Raven would find out and break her out before the Mistral authorities reached the village first, which pretty much would have resulted in the tribe being found and most likely completely annihilated by the kingdom of Mistral. Sophia, putting her full faith and loyalty in Raven, was very tightlipped and wouldn't sell them out. So the villagers got desperate and tried torturing her to get her to talk, which was how she got that scar near the corner of her left eye. Vernal was not kidding when she told me about Sophia's loyalty.

Eventually, Raven found out of her whereabouts and brought a raiding party with her to rescue her and razed the village to the ground before Mistral authorities could arrive, leaving not a single building standing or a single survivor. One thing Sophia noted in her story was that when Raven broke her out and destroyed the village with her raiding party, she was much more brutal in her actions than usual, especially considering, according to Sophia, Raven never really aims to completely destroy a village when raiding it, but more to "take what she needs and leave" (as Sophia put it). But for that village in particular, because they essentially kidnapped and tortured one of her own and tried to get her to sell the rest out, Raven took it very, very personally and she wanted them gone as she made it her mission to leave nothing left when she was done. I learned two things that day: the first is that I don't ever want to be on Raven's bad side and the second is that Sophia has some undying loyalty considering she was kidnapped and tortured, but still wouldn't sell them out. Her loyalty is easily her best and strongest quality.

Anyway, I got off course there for a bit. What was I reminiscing about again? I sort of drifted off. Oh right! Sophia crushing me to death:

When Sophia pulled me into her bearhug after Vernal threatened me, I was in immense pain.

"Um, Phi?" Vernal said with a slight chuckle, getting Sophia's attention as she pointed to me.

Sophia hadn't noticed that she was clamping her arms down around my wounds as my eyes were starting to involuntarily water from the pain as I was struggling to breathe.

"Oops! Sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you." She said as she immediately released, actually sounding remorseful for almost squeezing me to death as I was catching my breath and holding my sides like I just ran a full marathon with a stomach cramp.

I would have taken that moment to yell at her for that, but because of the fact that I didn't have the strength to at the time without feeling pain as well as the fact that Vernal was right there, I had decided that would not be a very good idea, so I just let it go for my own safety... and Sophia's.

"Looks like Simin is going to need more protection from you than he does from me." Vernal snidely remarked.

"Well at least I'm not the one literally threatening him. I'll still fight if you try to hurt him. Just like that drunk asshole from last night. If I were there, I would have kicked his ass too."

"Well aren't you just a badass?" Vernal says patronizingly to which Sophia just chuckled. "But seriously though, Sophia, I'm going to be honest with you here. You would lose."

"What do you mean?" Sophia protested.

"No offense, but there isn't a single person here you can beat in a fight." Vernal bluntly stated.

"Oh that's bullshit!" She said, clearly offended by Vernal's words. "There has to be someone."

"There isn't." Vernal replied with the bluntness and coldness of a metal hammer.

"Damn. Way to be gentle about it. What about Mari? I bet I could take her. Not that I would actually pick a fight with her." She proposed to which Vernal just laughed.

"Definitely not."

"But she doesn't even have a mean bone in her body." Sophia argued.

"And be glad that she doesn't." Vernal responded. "Because if she wanted to, she could literally kill you with little to no effort."

"Okay now you're just exaggerating." Sophia answered back.

"I know she doesn't seem like the fighting type, but she's more capable than you think." Vernal answered back.

"I... think I'm going to go now." I notified them as I turned to walk away, but they completely ignored me as they were fully engaged in their debate.

As for Raven, Vernal kept her word, and kept me out of her report. I was very relieved when I found that out. Raven probably might have killed me if Vernal mentioned me.

. . .

Back to the present:

Yeah, we're still deadlocked. Neither one of us is still budging. But we've been going at it for about a minute and are starting to attract a few spectators as some of them were making bets on who would win.

"Damn, kid! How strong are you?!" My opponent said with much strain in his voice.

I completely ignored his question while I was fully focused, fighting the strain and resistance. This arm wrestling match seems to be at a standstill. So while we're at it, how about I take the time to go over how my training has been?

Once I had healed enough from my injuries, Raven decided to sort of take me under her wing and start training me. When we first started, it was mainly to get me to fully unlock my aura. Since, as she said, I was already on the verge of unlocking it, she didn't go easy on me. Our first sessions went a little something like this:

. . .

About 2 Months Earlier: October 3rd:

"Okay, Simin." Raven announced. "Starting today, I am going to start training you. First thing we are going to do is get you to fully unlock your aura and train you to start engaging it. Do you have any questions?"

"So how exactly are you going to get me to fully unlock my aura? You said that aura is the manifestation of your soul that's projected around your body and it creates a protective barrier around you, right?" I asked her as I wasn't too sure how she would go about this.

"That is correct." She confirmed.

"So are we going to meditate or spar or something?"

"Not exactly. I wouldn't really know how to unlock it via meditation since the way I unlocked it was more through a 'trial by fire' of sorts and you are definitely nowhere near the level to be sparring with me without me holding back to the point it would just be a waste of time. My way is a bit more... direct." She stated ominously.

"Direct? Direct how?" I asked nervously.

"Just close your eyes and try to concentrate." She told me as she tried to ease me into it. "Take deep breaths if you have to. The purpose of today's training is to get you to unlock and be able to engage your aura."

"O-okay." I sheepishly complied.

"Trust me. When we are done, you will have learned to engage your aura in no time." I heard her tell me as my eyes were closed while I stood there.

For about thirty seconds or so, I pretty much stood there and tried my best to focus so that I could unlock my aura. I tried blocking all outside sounds and focused on my breathing as I tried to figure out how to engage my aura. I was so focused, that not even the slightest breeze was able to get me to lose concentration. But suddenly, I heard a loud and very close noise that sounded very akin to metal on metal... like something being... drawn.

"What was that?"

Out of curiosity, I cracked open one eyelid and saw Raven with her sword drawn as she was standing over me. As soon as I saw that, I immediately felt a sense of panic and distress.

"What the-!"

At the last second, in the heat of the moment, I barely ducked as Raven's strike went just over my head and I leapt backward as I scurried a good distance away.

"Stop playing around, Simin!" Raven shouted as she was irritated by my reaction. "We need to-"

"What are you doing?!" I yelled back, the panic still very much inside of me.

"What am I doing?" She asked as if she were completely oblivious to what she just did.

"Yes, what are you doing?" I repeated. "If I didn't know better, you were about to kill me!"

"Simin, I was not trying to kill you. You're being ridiculous."

"Then what do you call what you just did?!" I challenged her answer.

"I was trying to get you to unlock your aura." She answered.

"By trying to decapitate me?!"

"I was using the back of the blade. It most likely would not have killed you, though it definitely would have hurt a lot. Look, I'm just going to repeatedly strike you with it until you've fully unlocked your aura and learned to engage it. "

"'Most likely wouldn't have killed me'? Is she serious right now?"

"...What?" I said, taken aback by the casualness of her tone. "How would that even work?"

"Okay, this one is on me." Raven sighed. "I told you what aura is and its relation to semblances, but I never exactly explained to you how one unlocks it. So allow me to rectify that by giving a brief explanation. There are three ways to unlock someone's aura: the first way is via mental training, such as meditation. The second way, which I like to refer to as 'the stress test', is by inflicting damage until your body force-unlocks it."

"What do you mean?" I ask for clarification.

"Let me put it this way. Whenever you get a scratch or a bruise or anything minor like that, your body eventually heals itself on its own. But the more severe your wounds get as well as the more punishment your body gets put through, the longer and harder it will be for your body to heal itself. And because of that, your body will eventually be forced to try and find other ways to compensate so the wounds can heal. And eventually it will do that by manifesting and projecting your soul around your body (also known as your aura) as a sort of last-ditch security mechanism that you can actively engage at any moment to better and more quickly heal your wounds and/or protect you from further damage. Also -forgot to mention this-, the third method that I haven't mentioned yet is by having someone else use their aura to unlock yours for you."

"Can't we just do it that way?" I proposed.

"No." She says bluntly.

"But wouldn't it be much easier?" I question

"Yes. And that is exactly why I won't do it that way. Though I could very easily just fully unlock your aura using mine right here, right now, it wouldn't have been earned. I'm not here to hold your hand, Simin. And I'm certainly not giving you anything on a silver platter. If you want something, you're going to have to work for it and you're going to have to earn it. Got it?"

"So in other words, in order to get me to fully unlock my aura, I'm going to have to just take hits as you try to literally beat it out of me?"

"That is correct, yes." She says as she gives a direct answer.

"Why do you say that so casually?!"

"Well if you want, Simin, there is an alternative option we could do instead if you're so worried about having to take hits." She offered.

"And what would that be?" I asked her, open to hearing her offer.

"I can always just throw you off a high place and see what shape you are in when you hit the ground. Does that work for you?"

"...what? Y-... you're kidding, right?" I repeated, this time a bit quieter as I was in disbelief by her words. She has to be kidding right?

"Do I look like the type of person who kids around?" Raven asked as she got down to a knee and looked me in the eyes.

In response, I just stayed quiet.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question, Simin." She continued as she tried to get me to answer.

"N-no." I answered.

"Good. So I will ask you again: does the alternative option sound more appealing to you?" She repeated her offer with a low and serious voice.

I stayed quiet again as I gently shook my head.

"No? I thought so."

"Can you at least just use a stick or some kind of cane or something that isn't as likely to cleave me in two or lob my head off my shoulders?" I proposed with much trepidation in my voice.

"Fine. I will use my sheath if it makes you feel better." Raven said with a sigh, much disapproval in her voice as she was very annoyed by my complaints. "Now let's resume training. We're wasting time."

"Thank you."

"Gods, you can be such a child sometimes." Raven remarked.

"Well that's because I am one." I excused.

"That's not what I meant, Simin. Don't use that as an excuse. This world doesn't care if you're a child or not. You should be more than aware of that by now. It isn't going to make accommodations simply to meet your needs and desires. The world isn't going to change and adapt for one person just because they can't handle it. Sometimes you either make do with what you have and deal with it or adapt to your situation. So you're going to have to not just step out of your comfort zone, but stay out of it as well. Step up to the plate if you want to stay alive. Don't let up for a second or get lazy or make excuses or you will allow yourself to get soft and end up right back where you started and you will be dead in no time. I'm going to push you, Simin. So for every time I knock you down, I expect you to get back up. And for every time I strike you, I expect you not to crack. For every order I give you, I expect you not to complain or hesitate. You don't have your four walls to protect you anymore. You're in the real world now. And don't you forget it or I will have to remind you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes, Raven."

"Say it again, but with confidence." She ordered.

"Yes, Raven!" I complied.

"Good. Now let's begin..."

I had so many welts and bruises by the end of it and was so sore the next day, I literally struggled just to walk around. But eventually, through some blood, sweat, and tears (and I mean that both figuratively and very literally), I unlocked my aura and learned how to engage it. However, I couldn't keep it activated for very long because it took me a great deal of focus and concentration to be able to do it. So to make sure that I got past that so I could keep my aura up to the point that it would become second-nature, Raven made my training 24/7. In other words, for a full consecutive week, so long as I was conscious or awake (since you can't keep your aura activated if you're asleep or knocked out), I had to constantly keep my aura up and if I ever dropped it for even a second, she would make me start over. To make sure that I was engaging in it and not just dropping it whenever she wasn't around, she would occasionally come up behind me and land a small strike on me without warning. If my body got damaged, then that meant my aura was down and I would have to start over again. She did make sure that she was careful not to hit me hard enough that it would break my aura since I didn't have that much at the time and it was still very weak.

It still took me a few tries before I finally got it though. There was one time where I got really close to finishing, but a thunderstorm came and the sudden boom of thunder that rang as the storm hit slightly startled me and made me disengage for just a hair of a second and unfortunately for me, Raven was watching. I was so mad at myself for messing up that day. It was at that moment that I learned that times of surprise or when I get startled tend to make me accidentally disengage my aura in the split second of panic. It's something I'm still working on right now. But anyway, it wasn't until the first week of November that I was finally able to get through it completely.

After my aura training was done, I was allowed to start training with Raven, Vernal, and Mari. I guess you could say it was the equivalent of getting promoted from the kiddie table to the adults' table. I usually got paired up with Vernal since, according to Raven, I was more close to her in terms of strength and ability (even though there was a pretty big gap between us) compared to the gaps between me and Raven and me and Mari (which surprised me to find out). Vernal didn't take too kindly to the idea of being stuck with a kid for training and she wasn't shy to show that during our sessions as she was adamant on proving to me how large the gap between us was every single time. Something tells me she might also be holding a grudge from my first night here because I got my ass kicked by her... a lot. But on the bright side, it did help toughen me up a bit more and I can tell I'm very slowly starting to catch up to her with each session.

We would occasionally train with Raven as well and let's just say I've been rag dolled more than enough times by her to tell who I prefer training with. Although I will admit, it is a bit satisfying to see Vernal eat a few hits as well. Anyway, the scary thing is during the sessions with Raven I can't exactly tell if she was holding back or not. She definitely hits hard, but the way she fights us is almost effortless as she doesn't even break a sweat. Raven is easily the strongest person I've ever met... next to my dad, that is. If he were alive and crossed paths with Raven, though it would be pretty close, I am confident that he could beat her in a fight. I mean he was able to keep Dorado safe from grimm and bandits and literally singlehandedly fended off entire bandit raids and grim hordes for over eleven years. He was a one man army. His only real weaknesses that I've seen were his age and his experience. In other words, his age as well as all the battles he fought defending us took a toll on his body over time (and that's not even including what he went through before living in Dorado). He may not have been in his prime when he died, but he was still incredibly powerful for someone of his age and experience. But still, that doesn't change the fact that Raven is also one incredibly powerful individual as well. Even though I admit that I do fear Raven, I honestly can't help but sort of respect her in a way as well.

During our break times, I would try to ask Vernal questions about Raven and Mari since I wanted to know more about them. I'd have asked Raven herself, but she's gone almost all the time and even if I did catch her, she'd just blow me off or scold me. And as for Mari, if it's anything like the first time I asked her, she would just freeze up again. So Vernal was the next best thing because I figured she would know something considering she's with them a lot. I wanted to know more about them, but whenever I tried asking Vernal, she just dismisses it and tells me to pay attention and keep my mind on the training, even during breaks. I see she adopts some of her strictness from Raven.

Even though I've gotten stronger, I'm still nowhere near Raven's level yet... or my dad's for that matter. Maybe one day. But I have a long way to go, that's for sure.

Anyway, back to the present:

. . .

Back to the Present:

At this point we've been deadlocked in the same place for about a few minutes or so as our faces are completely red with beads of sweat starting to appear as we both compete in our war of attrition. At this point, our little arm wrestling competition has now attracted a pretty decent sized crowd as we received heckles and cheers and other comments as the small, yet rowdy, audience was having the time of their lives watching a kid my size rival a guy who visibly looked much, much stronger than me. I ended up being on the receiving end of the majority of the support from the crowd as they couldn't help but cheer for the "underdog".

After another minute, my arm is now starting to feel numb and tremble.

"Uh oh." I thought. "That can't be good. But I can't give up! I know I can beat him! I will beat him! I will keep on pushing until my arm gives ou-"

"Woah!"

My arm just gave out. In an instant, all the pressure I had been putting in immediately turned into nothing as my arm couldn't go anymore. Due to the sudden cease of pressure from my side, my hand gets slammed into the crate so hard that the rest of my body goes down with it. Next thing you, I suddenly found myself lying on my back, now staring into the gray, Winter sky with an arm that felt both numb and sore at the same time as my opponent had his arm raised, the snowflakes beginning to fall like celebratory confetti. I laid there for a few seconds, letting out a disappointed sigh, as he took notice and bent down near me and picked me up by my good arm, as he felt a bit bad for slamming me so hard.

"You good, kid?" He checked on me.

"Yeah." I said with audible disappointment in my voice.

"Don't get so down on yourself." He said, trying to lift my spirits. "You actually got me sweating there! Honestly, if you had been able to go a few more seconds, my arm would have given out and you would've beaten me. And besides, look at it this way: you're still a pipsqueak and you still managed to push me this hard. If that's how strong you are now, then just imagine how you'll be when you get bigger!"

Hearing that did bring a bit of a smile to my face.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Thanks." I said smiling to myself a bit from the compliment.

"Simin!" I hear a voice call for me from behind. It was Raven.

"Looks like you better get outta here, kid. Don't wanna hold you up."

"Alright." I say turning and jogging over to Raven.

"Okay now who's next?" He says, giving an open challenge to the others as I make my way over to Raven who was carrying a Winter coat with her.

"Yes, Raven?" I ask, awaiting to hear what she called me over for.

"Grab your jacket and your weapons and then meet me at the gate. You and I are going on a bit of a field trip." Raven says with a very serious tone.

Her slight vagueness made me very curious.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll find out when we get there." She told me, purposely keeping the information from me.

I hope she won't be this vague the whole time.

Deciding not to press her on it, I quickly jog to my tent with haste, knowing better than to keep Raven waiting for too long. I had to learn the hard way last time what happens if you keep her waiting when I was late for training once (only by ten seconds I might add)... it was horrible.

I enter my tent and walk over to the trunk and open it as I pull out my father's sais and slide them into my belt and then check to make sure my mother's knife was firmly in my boot, which it was. I also grabbed Bruno's bandana, which was sitting on top of the trunk and wrapped it around my neck for some more warmth. I then grab my gray, wool jacket that Mari gave to me for the winter and I head back out and turn to the direction Raven is in. As I stepped out of the tent, I heard a familiar, curious voice call directly to me:

"And where might you be off to in such a hurry?"

I turn in the direction of a curious Sophia's and see her looking at me with an investigative look on her face.

"Hey, Sophia. I'm just heading to Raven." I say with a rushed voice, letting her know I was in a bit of a hurry.

"Alright then. But before you head out, I just need to ask something of you."

"What is it? And please be quick about it?" I say with a bit of a groan as I don't want to get in trouble with Raven.

"I will. I will. Don't worry. It's just a teensy little favor. I... was just wondering if you, by any chance, if you could help me get out of my debt with Vernal?" She says as she slightly heightens the pitch in her voice in a way as if she's bracing herself for a "no".

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because I'm desperate at this point." She says with a bit of frustration in her voice, but I could tell it wasn't directed at me but more at her situation.

"And why should that be my problem?" I ask as I'm waiting for her to give me a reason to convince me to agree. "Why should I let you drag me into this?"

"Look, I'm really desperate here. Please, I am on my knees here! Just help me out of my debt with Vernal and I promise you I will pay you back big time!" She pleaded.

"So basically you're saying that you're willing to get out of a debt with one person just to get into another debt with another person, which would be me?"

The second I said that, she instantly went quiet as she didn't know how to respond as I saw defeat in her eyes.

"Gods, she is hopeless!"

As she turned to walk away, there was something that popped in my head: a reason for me to agree (although it is a bit of a petty one, I'll admit).

"Fine, I'll do it!" I say with a heavy, reluctant sigh.

"Really?!" Sophia responded as her eyes widened as she sharply turned around.

"Yeah, I'll do it." I answer.

"Oh my gods! Thank you so much!" Sophia yells as she briskly walks over me and pulls me into one of her bearhugs.

"On two conditions." I managed to say through her constricting.

"Okay what is it? Lay it on me." She said as she released me.

"You have to stop calling me 'Lu'. I want you to call me by my actual name from now on. Oh, and you have to go a full week without gambling."

In response, Sophia looked very unsure as her body language went from almost celebratory to reluctant upon me saying that as she started bunching the sleeve she wore on her arm.

"Look, Sophia, that's all I ask. If you can do that one thing for me, then I will help. Tell you what. How about you only have to go a week without calling me 'Lu', but the gambling condition stays the same. So it's a week of calling me by my normal name and no gambling. Okay?"

"...Okay, fine." She acquiesced with much reluctance.

I could tell that was a hard thing for her to do for some reason considering she avoided eye contact as she said that. I don't know what her attachment with that name is or what significance it has to her or why she gambles so much, but I'm just relieved I got her to agree.

Even though Sophia is an incredibly loyal individual, which is her greatest attribute, the worst thing about her is her gambling.

Sophia likes to gamble. A lot. Literally every time I see her, outside of my occasional haircuts, she's always behind a hand of playing cards as she's sitting in a circle with a few other bandits (also with a hand of playing cards) with a stack of lien in the center of their little huddle. There is never a time that passes where you see a group of bandits playing some kind of stakes game and Sophia isn't one of them. I remember there was one time she had gone through so many games in one day, she hadn't left her spot from when I woke up to when I got dinner as she was just playing the rounds back to back, constantly losing and winning lien throughout the day, which was indicated by the stack of lien that sat next to her that would constantly grow and shrink (along with her confidence) throughout that day. By the time she finally got up to do something else, there was an imprint left in the ground where she was sitting.

"You've got yourself a deal." I say shaking her hand as I then quickly release as we go our separate ways with me heading back over to Raven, who was waiting for me at the gate.

As I approached the front gate, I could see that Vernal and Mari were there with her. From how they were standing, it looked like Raven was telling them something or instructing them. As I got closer, I caught the tail end of their conversation before they noticed me.

"...So I'm leaving you two are in charge while I'm gone. I'll be back tomorrow around noon. I want you both to stay up to speed with your training." It was at that moment that Raven turned her head as she saw me. "Oh, Simin. Come on. Hurry up, we're about to head out."

"I'm coming." I say as I start to pick up my pace a bit.

Raven then dismissed Vernal and Mari as they walked past me with Mari giving me a bit of a shoulder pat as I walked through the gap in between them. As I reached Raven she seemed to be fixated on them for a bit for some reason. I couldn't tell whether she was looking at Mari, Vernal, or both. One thing's for sure is that she had this somewhat irritated expression- like something was stressing her out.

"Um Raven?" I say getting her attention.

She quickly snaps out of it and turns her head to me, her expression staying the same.

"Are you Ready?" Raven asks, brushing it off.

"Yes. I have everything." I say as I briefly check myself.

"Alright. Let's go."

Raven then motions to two men standing on each side of the gate as the two large, wooden doors open with a low, loud creak. Raven and I step outside the camp reentering the natural domain.

"So where exactly are we going?" I ask with a curious expression.

"Simin, I said you'll find out when we get there."

"Well you can at least tell me for what reason we're going, right?"

"'Two reasons. You could say I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'm going to teach you an important lesson. And we're going to see someone." She says vaguely.

"And who might that be?" I ask, pushing the subject.

"There's no point in getting acquainted with someone who's already dead." She responded coldly.

Well that was ominous. What does she mean by that? Maybe I should not press any further. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

**CHAPTER END**

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Heeeey everyone!

I'm back! (Or at least for this week I am)

Sorry I've been gone for a while. Classes have started for me a few weeks ago and I have been getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter by the dynamic duo that is classes and sleep deprivation, so it's been very hard finding the time to write before the crack of dawn of the next day since I'm usually up doing papers and readings. I'm not sure when the next post will be, but rest assured that I am chipping away at chapter 13 as we speak with whatever time I can get.

Anyway, I should also announce that I have done some remodeling on my profile page. It's no longer the boring white void it used to be! I've added a brief summary/welcome of sort, a list of things to expect and not expect, and (most importantly in my opinion) I post weekly announcements on the bottom of my profile page every Monday to give updates on where I am in the writing process as well as when I'm going on hiatus, making a return, etc. If you ever want updates or answers as to why I'm gone, you will most likely find them there as the announcements are updated weekly.

Also, I'm sorry this isn't chapter 13 (which is still being edited) and I hope I didn't disappoint you if you were expecting this to be chapter 13, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter regardless. This chapter is meant to be the filler/recap/set-up chapter that I think I mentioned a while back in my author notes for (I think) chapter 4. Due to the nature of this chapter, I tried to make the writing a bit more laid back for this one while setting up the next act of the volume. That's why this chapter also has a bit of a weird structure because it's literally just Simin going over certain experiences and other things over the three month time skip that happened between chapter 12 and chapter 13. I hope I did a good job at executing that. If there was anything I could have done better, please don't hesitate to tell me.

So anyway, the next act is goin to focus on Raven and Simin. More specifically, it will serve to develop a bit of a bond of sorts between them. For those who know Raven's semblance, you can probably guess what I'm alluding to. Honestly, the interactions between Simin and Raven are probably some of my favorite in this volume and I hope you like them. Also next chapter is Raven's (and technically also Qrow's) backstory and the backstory will feature a new semblance (but don't get your hopes up though because we don't really get to see it in action since it primarily exists in a backstory). It's a really over powered and versatile semblance (which is also why I made it as a part of the backstory because I wasn't sure how to use in the present of this series.

Also, the whole kidnapping story with Sophia was originally going to be its own act, but I removed it because I realized it was just filler. It wouldn't have contributed to any of the characters' development and it wouldn't have pushed the plot forward. I could literally just take it out and nothing would change. So I simply scrapped and repurposed it in this chapter.

Oh! Also, just going to get this out of the way, no, Raven and Simin are not heading to Ozpin nor are they going to see anyone with any connections to Ozpin. I won't reveal who it is, but they have a direct connection to a future member of team SLVR since this act will also serve to play a significant role in one of the backstories of that team SLVR member when [SPOILERS!] Raven kills their brother, and that team SLVR member will name their weapon after their deceased brother and try to challenge Raven (emphasis on "try" because Raven mops the floor with them) in Volume 2.

Anyway, I think that's it. Until I see you all again for chapter 13, here is fun fact number 13:

Fun Fact #13:

This chapter was originally supposed to be the end of chapter 12, but i thought the ending to chapter 12 that I actually put n was perfect as it was. So I tried to make this chapter the start to 13, but it felt too weirdly placed. So I made it an in-between chapter and just made it filler/recap/set-up.


	14. Volume I: Chapter XIII: The Shepherd and His Flock:

(Quick note before we begin: I highly, highly recommend reading this chapter in parts instead of reading it in one go. This is an absolute behemoth of a chapter and it is a very slow burn)

Volume I: Chapter XIII: The Shepherd and His Flock:

"Man, it's cold out here!" I think out loud, as Raven and I trudge on through the snow that was now sitting well above our ankles and just beyond the halfway point to my knees.

The way she walked through the snow was almost effortless as she created one continuous rut throughout our journey while I pretty much kept getting caught in the ankle-high elements as I was not very used to hiking through snow. Something tells me if I wasn't tagging along, she would be able to cover much more distance much more quickly.

It's a good thing I had my snow boots on me otherwise I'd probably get frostbite from the snow that would have gotten in my normal shoes if I had chosen to wear them. Still slightly shivering, I practically wrap my arms around myself as I pull my jacket tighter around me as an attempt for extra warmth. Due to the intense cold today, the jacket didn't exactly do much in making me warm, but it still beats not having one at all and getting hypothermia or frostbite. It would be so convenient if aura could just automatically keep me warm. Then I wouldn't need Winter clothes and wouldn't have to worry about the cold. But unfortunately that's not the case. But, if it's any consolation, at least aura doesn't attract grimm.

"That better not be complaining I hear!" Raven called back to me in response to my comment, with an annoyed tone, still keeping her gaze mostly ahead of her as she slightly turned her head back to me.

"I wasn't complaining! I was just… pointing out the obvious is all." I say that second part a bit quietly, but still audible enough for her to hear.

In response, Raven let out a light sigh as her breath exited the slits of her mask as she turned her head back forward. Though I couldn't see her face, I could tell she was rolling her eyes at my response. I wonder how she sees through that thing. Does it even help keep her face warm? Speaking of warm, I wonder how warm her jacket is.

"So… are you not cold at all?" I ask, trying to create some dialogue between us, but also for an ulterior reason as well.

"Not really, no." Raven replied bluntly as she made it clear through her tone that she didn't feel like having conversation, yet still going along with it (most likely just to appease me so I can leave her alone).

"Well then you must have a very good jacket, I take it. After all, it looks reeeally comfortable and soft. I bet it must be so warm under there-"

"Simin, I'm not giving you my jacket so stop. You should have bundled up more before we headed out."

"Dammit! She caught on to me! So much for that."

A brief period of awkward silence passed between us as we marched on, listening to the soft crunch of the snow beneath our feet. We had been travelling for a while now. About eight hours straight with no rest. Whomever this person is, wherever we're going, it must be pretty urgent. I wish she'd fill me in a bit more, but she's been very dismissive of the subject everytime I bring it up. I'm still trying to figure out what she meant by that when she said, "there's no point in getting acquainted with the dead." Are we visiting someone's grave or something?

To distract myself from this itching question, I then take a look at the cloud infested sky and our surroundings. The sun must be setting. Although the gray screen of clouds was blocking out the sun, I was still able to tell it was starting to get dark. The air is getting colder, which means night was approaching and our surroundings were becoming a slightly darker shade of gray with every minute that passed. I hope we won't be travelling over night too. We won't be able to tell where we're going if we do. She may be strict, but I know she's not crazy… I hope.

"So uh, how long until we reach this person?" I ask, trying to keep up with her as I noticed the snow was starting to slow me down.

"Today is the 28th, right? Well if we keep going at this pace, we should be able to get there tomorrow sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m." She answered.

"Oh, okay." I say with a neutral voice as I didn't even bother complaining.

That's the most I've gotten out of her with this subject all day.

"You're used to this, aren't you?" Raven asked as she slowed her pace a bit for me to catch up.

"What do you mean?" I ask for clarification.

"Being out here. Travelling long distances, no breaks, harsh environments." She clarified for me.

"Well I did spend over a month surviving out here after all. I had to get used to it. I didn't have a choice. Though it wasn't snowing then, so the cold wasn't really much of a worry for me." I say as I closed the distance between us, now walking right beside her.

I looked back at the prints I had left behind as well as the rut Raven left in the snow-covered forest as nature was already gently placing a fresh blanket of snow over them. It's really coming down on us. I hope we don't get lost. But then again, even if we do, I'm still with Raven, so I'm confident that we'll still be fine.

Just then, a breeze of cold air ran through the forest like a truck as the cold blast hit me like a punch to the face, getting snow in my eyes in the process and making it a bit hard for me to see. Instinctively, due to the snow blocking my sight, I briefly grabbed Raven's sleeve to keep myself from getting separated from her. When the gust of wind died down, I let go. I glance up at Raven after realizing what I did, expecting a scolding or scathing remark, but it seems she didn't notice me grabbing her sleeve. Maybe the jacket is so thick she couldn't feel it? Or perhaps, the blast was so cold, she was too distracted to notice? Speaking of it being cold, I'm pretty curious about something I've always wanted to try. I wonder, if I were to spit on the ground would it freeze in mid-air before hitting its target? Hmm.

With that thought I put my curiosity into action and build a decent amount of spit in my mouth and start to move it around with my tongue. Once I have built up enough, I slightly open my lips and move the ball of saliva to the opening before spitting it out of my mouth like a cannon shooting a cannonball. To my disappointment, it didn't freeze in mid-air like I hoped it would. The glob of spit hit the snow still maintaining its liquid form throughout its short journey from my mouth as it splattered upon making contact with its landing point. Well… at least I got my answer.

"Simin?" I heard Raven say next to me.

"Yes?" I replied looking up to her as her gaze was pointed at me.

"What was that?" She asked, sounding like a parent trying to get their child to confess to something they already know they did.

"I- uh, what do you mean?" I ask her.

"What you just did." She clarified.

"I-I...um...It was so cold, I was curious to see if my saliva would freeze in mid-air if I spit it out... So I did.. ...It didn't work." I said, adopting a quiet tone as I felt a slight sense of nervousness and guilt come over me a bit as I looked away.

"Simin?"

"Y-yes?" I responded, willing myself to look back at her.

"Don't do that again."

"...Okay..."

….ANYWAY… let's change the subject. Raven was dressed a bit differently as well to combat the cold of this harsh Winter weather. She was wearing a small, thick, red and black, hooded jacket that stopped at around the top of her thighs with pieces of fur at the ends of the sleeves and lining around the hood and the bottom as well. However, she always kept the hood down since she was wearing her mask, which allowed her long, black hair to blow in the wind every time a cold breeze would travel by. To cover her legs, she had a pair of black leggings (or "compressed winter pants" as she called them). She can give them whatever fancy name she wants, but they're still just leggings at the end of the day. The leggings had built-in thermal pads (probably filled with heat dust, which is essentially crystals that contain elemental abilities like ice, water, lightning, etc.). They also had a reddish hue, which I could tell were red because you could barely make out a faint crimson color within the fabric if you looked hard enough. The built-in thermal pads were mainly around the thigh and calf areas. She didn't really wear anything different for her hands and pretty much sported the same red gauntlets with the spike protruding at the elbows of each that she always wore. But as for her footwear, she donned a pair of black, fur snow boots lined with red laces.

As we continued to trudge on, I noticed Raven slow her pace some more before coming to a complete stop.

"I think we're good here for tonight." She says as we eventually stop near a boulder surrounded by a few trees.

"You mean we're finally going to rest?" I ask, slightly winded from the thin, cold air.

Yes." She confirmed.

"Alright." I say casually even though I was slightly celebrating on the inside.

"Oh thank the gods! Now I can finally take a bre-"

"But I need you to go hunt for our dinner, alright?"

"DAMMIT!"

"Something small like maybe a couple rabbits or something." She suggested. "Also, judging from the looks of it, we have about an hour before it gets completely dark, so I need you back within that time. Got it?"

"Okay, but what are you going to do while I'm gone?" I ask with curiosity in my voice.

"I'm going to set up camp and build us a fire. There isn't really anything for us to sleep under, so I will take care of that in the meantime." She said looking around for some resources she could use.

"In just an hour? How can you do that so fast by yourself? Also what are you going to use? I don't really see-"

Before I could finish my sentence, she draws her sword and hacks down one of the trees as it fell with a loud, low crack... in a single slash... with one arm. For a few seconds I was left in a state of shock and awe.

"What in the world?! Just how strong is this woman?! Not even Vernal is anywhere near that level of strength! I have a long way to go."

"Why are you still here?" Raven says, snapping me out of my speechless, awe-inspired state.

"Oh! Uh, right. I-I'll start hunting now." I say as I turn to head off.

"Yeah, you do that." Raven remarked as I started walking away.

"Oh and Simin, one more thing!" Raven calls out, catching me just before I got out of ear shot. "Don't use your ammo!"

In response, I give her a thumbs up before I turn back into my previous direction and then disappear into the pale, white wilderness as Raven worked on setting up our shelter.

"Why wouldn't she want me to use ammo? Is she just trying to give me a handicap to test me? Or maybe she thinks I'm going to need it later?"

. . .

After about 20 minutes of wandering out here trying to find something to get us through the night, I couldn't find any signs of life and was starting to get frustrated.

"Ugh! This is ridiculous! I have about forty minutes left and I still haven't found anything. Is hunting in Winter always this difficult? There's got to be something out here right?"

After finishing my brief little tirade, I pull out my knife and turn to the tree adjacent to me.

"Okay this is tree number what? 18, I think? Yeah, I think it's 18."

I then use mom's knife to carve the number 18 into the bark of the tree as a way to make sure I don't get lost and that I can find my way back (which I've been doing to some of the other trees I've passed as well). After that, I mentally take a couple steps back and start to reassess my situation as I examine the conditions of my surroundings before continuing my trek through the Winter dominated forest.

Okay, let's see. The rate of the snowfall has lightened since coming out here, which means it should be easier for me to find any fresh tracks before they get covered up. But I have about forty minutes of light left. My time may have decreased, but it seems my chances of finding prey have increased as well. So long as I don't waste any time, I am bound to find some tracks soon. I just need to be quick about this because I don't know what's worse: getting lost in the woods at night during Winter or returning to Raven empty handed- especially after keeping her waiting, which would already be bad enough. I don't think I want to find out.

I keep walking around paying close attention to the snow for any prints before I end up coming across a small tree to rest for a second or two.

As I was about to get moving again, I hear a light, but audible, snap come from above followed by my head lightly being tapped by some small object. I look down and see that it is a broken twig. Something just moved in the trees. And judging from the movement of the branches and the twig that just fell, it was probably a grey squirrel (since those are active during Winter) that had just leapt from another branch and scampered to the base of the tree.

"Finally, I found something!"

I could lightly hear the tiny scratching sounds of its claws on the tree bark as it climbed around. Eventually, the bushy-tailed creature rears its head as it makes another round before stopping. Now's my chance. I pull out one of my weapons and take aim, holding my breath as I do so. Just before I pulled the trigger, my brain hit me with a reminder: Raven specifically told me not to use my ammo.

"Dammit! Looks like I'm going to have to do this old fashioned way: climbing."

(Sigh.)

I really wish dad and I had spent more time on tree climbing during our lessons Even though I'm not the biggest fan of heights, it's something that would have proven to be useful in times like this. Now let's see. How am I going to climb this thing?

I take a look around the tree and see there is another fallen tree right next to it that would make a useful ramp or a running start.

"That'll work." I mutter to myself in response to the convenience standing before me.

After checking the surface for any ice and scraping off what might hinder my chances of succeeding in what I'm about to do, I take a few steps back and start ro run forward up the fallen tree. As soon as I reach the end of it, I hop off and leap toward one of the branches of the tree my prey was still resting on and grab onto a low branch. The snow almost made me lose my grip, but I still managed to pull myself up as I went with my momentum.

One by one, I make my way up the tree as I place each gloved hand around a branch and pull myself closer and closer to my prey while mentally repeating the message "Don't look down" to myself over and over again. Normally, I'd use the sai to pull myself up, but they feel awkward when wearing gloves because it's hard to get a feel for them. And yeah, I could just take my gloves off, but no. It's freezing out here. My hands will be numb by the time I reach my target.

I try not to let the squirrel notice me, but it's a bit difficult given my position. All I can really do is try to get close enough before it has a chance to jump anywhere. Slowly, but surely, I manage to get close enough to land a killing blow on it. I then pull out the knife while sitting on my current branch and, with one arm securing me in my position, I pull my arm back, ready to plunge the blade into my prey. But just when I was about to plunge the knife into the squirrel's body, my ears perk up in response to an approaching flapping sound. Next thing you know, a hawk swooped in from my peripheral vision and snatched up the squirrel, almost knocking me off the tree in the process. Earlier, I was frustrated. Now, I'm just absolutely irate as my malice-filed eyes follow the hawk as it disappears in the trees.

I take a deep breath to prevent myself from exploding since it just stole my kill.

After a few moments of trying to regain my bearings, I then hear what sounds like something of considerable size land on the top of the tree.

"Please tell me that's what I think it is?"

I look up and I see the hawk perched at the top of the tree by a nest. Seeing this, instantly brought my spirits back up as it must have circled back and landed up here.

I'm going to have to be more careful now. It may be on the same tree, saving me the time of looking for something else, but this is a hawk I'm confronting and I'm not in the position to do much besides climb and try to kill it. But it's a risk I'll have to take. Besides, this hawk will provide much more than what the squirrel could have offered.

I put my knife away and begin climbing higher up the tree toward the hawk's position. As I started closing the gap between us, the bird began to spread its wings in an attempt to intimidate me and get me to back off as it let out a small screech. Yeah, that's not happening. I am much more afraid of what Raven will do if I come back empty-handed than what the hawk could do to me if I keep going. I kept climbing higher, one sai now in hand, until I was at a distance that I could thrust my weapon into it and kill it for dinner.

Just as I was about to do so, the bird of prey lunged at me with its hooked, dagger-like talons. In the heat of the moment, I panicked and ended up blocking them… with my arm. That hurt a lot, especially since the panic combined with the anxiety I was already feeling due to my fear of heights made me drop my aura for a split second, meaning my arm is currently being shredded by the winged predator as its sharp talons hooked into my arm. That was my first mistake.

I felt the claws sink into my arm, creating a burning sensation, as it pierced my jacket and skin. As the warm blood flowed from my freezing arm, my sleeve got more and more soaked, the hawk relentless in its assault. Amidst the panic, I used my other arm to pull out my other sai and thrust the weapon straight into the hawk's chest as it let out a pained shriek, piercing its heart and quickly killing it. My feeling of relief sharply turned into that of dread as I realized, that was my second mistake once my body started succumbing to the laws of gravity.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!"

It hadn't dawned on me until after the fact that killing the hawk right then and there was a rash move without much thought put behind it. The thing may no longer be attacking me, but now that I used my other arm to kill the hawk, there was nothing holding me onto the tree anymore and I couldn't do much with my other arm due to the injuries and the dead hawk still having its talons securely hooked into my arm. I try grabbing onto anything, but it's already too late. I'm now officially plummeting to the snowy ground.

I'd activate my aura to take the blow for me, but remember when I said that moments of panic and surprise make it difficult for me to focus and engage in my aura? Well… I'm feeling pretty fucking panicked right now! So I am having a lot of difficulty trying to focus.

After everything I've been through in the past few months and after all my training, am I really going to go out because of a stupid mistake and a damned bird causing me fall to my death? I can't focus! No matter what I do, I'm going to hit the ground and I'm going to hit it hard. But... that doesn't necessarily mean it will kill me. I have to slow myself down just enough to be able to take the blow before it's too late. I only have one shot, so I need to make it count.

In a split second decision, with my free arm, I pull the sai out of the hawk's carcass, and hook it around a small nearby branch. Due to the velocity at which I was falling, the small branch bent, slowing my fall before giving and snapping. Judging from the distance I am from the ground and my velocity decreasing, I should be able to hit the ground now without any major injuries. Now to let gravity do the rest of the work and hope for the best.

My 63 pound (28.6 kg) body (not including the hawk still hooked to my arm) hit the snow covered ground with a heavy, muffled thump as my entire body instantly felt numb as I landed right on my back, the wind completely knocked out of me.

"Am I dead?" I thought.

I lay there for a few minutes while staring at the cloudy sky, trying to catch my breath as I wiggle my fingers to get some feeling into them. It wasn't until after a couple minutes that the pain started to set in as the adrenaline slowly died down, a clear indicator that I was most certainly not dead.

I slowly pick myself up as I unhook the hawk's talons from my skin and brush the snow off my body before looking up at where I fell from. That fall had to be at least 70 feet (21.3 meters). I guess that training I've been doing has really helped my durability a bit as well. If it were me 3 months ago taking that fall, I most likely would have died or at the very least, be horribly mangled.

Now that I am no longer concerned about falling to my death, I am now reminded of the wounds on my arms in the form of a growing red spot on the snow as well as a burning sensation that causes me to wince and breathe sharply as I grit my teeth. I take a look at my arm and see the open chasms of flesh with flowing crimson rivers the hawk left behind on me. I should get Raven to look at this. I had only unlocked my aura recently (about a month and a half ago) and it isn't strong enough yet to the point that it can heal these types of wounds- well I mean it can heal these wounds, but it's just that it will take a lot longer compared to those who have a better handling of their aura as well as a larger amount of it. I can heal small scratches and scrapes and stuff, but this is going to need some extra assistance. But if I activate it now, it should be able to get some of the healing done and then maybe Raven can patch up the rest when I get back. As for any bruises I may have received from the fall, those should be mostly cleared up by then.

But on the bright side, I didn't die, I got us dinner in the form of a hawk, and I still have time to spare. If my arm weren't torn to shreds right now, I'd honestly feel a lot better. Before heading back, I pick up my prize by its feet after putting my weapons away and examine it.

"Now then,..." I say, a bit out of breath. "...let's get you back to Raven."

. . .

Later That Night:

The sun had now set on us as Raven and I sat in the pitch black forest with the campfire she had built being our only source of light and heat outside of what we were wearing. When I returned from my hunt, hawk in hand, I was greeted by the sight of Raven stoking the fire she had built for us and a lean-to shelter she had constructed, using the boulder as a support. Once she spotted me approaching, she met me halfway and asked what took me so long, but then cut herself off once she noticed the wounds on my arm. However, she didn't look mortified or had any concern in her voice when asking me about my injuries. If anything, she sounded slightly annoyed when she pulled me over to treat me as if me being injured was just an inconvenience. However, despite the front she put on, I couldn't help but notice her actions and movements when treating me were somewhat urgent as they resembled something akin to a mother's reaction to seeing her own child injured. I guess Mari wasn't kidding when she said Raven saw us as her family.

"You should have been more careful, Simin. I'm not always going to be there to patch you up." Raven said with a lecturing tone as she pulls a chunk of meat off the roasted hawk.

"I know, I know." I try to assure her.

"I mean it, Simin." She replied sternly.

"Look, I panicked and forgot to engage my aura for a second, okay? But I was in a high place and the hawk atta-"

"Do not give me excuses! You said it yourself, you panicked! Leave it at that. I don't care where you were or what happened. Fact of the matter is you let yourself panic and in the process, you made a lapse in judgement that could have cost you your life. Whether it be anger, fear, anxiety, you cannot panic or let your emotions get to you in those situations and allow yourself to make mistakes like that. Do you understand me?"

"But-"

"Don't!" She said, quickly shutting me down. Though she didn't say it loudly, the stern forcefulness of that one word rang through me like a gavel being slammed in a courtroom.

"Simin…" She continued. "Excuses won't get you anywhere except that much closer to an early grave. So do not give me that. Now back to what I was saying: if you panic and let your emotions get to you to the point that they overwhelm and control you, then you make yourself more prone to these things happening, especially at your expense. For example, remember when we first met? You let your emotions get to you and in a fit of rage, you attacked and murdered six of my own tribe members and then blindly made an attempt on myself... and you know where that got you? Knocked unconscious as you were bleeding out from a severe bullet wound- put aside the fact that I could have just killed you right then and there or left you to die if I felt like it.

"Because you let your emotions get to you, you made a rash decision and almost tossed your life away in the process. The point is, you can't allow your emotions to become your weakness. Learn to control them better and don't allow yourself to be overcome by them. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, Raven." I say quietly after listening to her lecture.

I guess she does have a point. I do tend to let my emotions get to me and more than once, I've come close to dying or at the very least, was put in a dire situation. I nearly lost my life in Dorado when I panicked and froze after seeing that beowolf attack that man and the same thing almost happened again in Oniyuri. Then there was Raven's example where I charged those six guys blindly and ended up getting shot because I wasn't thinking clearly. She isn't wrong, that's for sure. But going back to how she decided not to kill me, there's a burning question that I need to ask her about later.

"I will give you this though: that was some quick thinking to slow down your fall to lessen the impact." Raven added.

"Is that praise I hear?" I try to tease to lighten the mood.

"Don't push it." Raven said, quickly shutting me down again as I instantly retracted a bit. "I'm just giving credit where it is due."

Still it is unusual to get any kind of praise from Raven of all people.

"Thank you. And thank you for patching my arm up too." I say a bit timidly as I changed my tone, trying to go with the momentum to shift the mood change of the conversation.

In response, Raven pulls a piece of meat from her hawk leg and places it in her mouth, completely ignoring my thanks.

"So this aura thing…" I continue. "...you said it could essentially heal all wounds?"

"MOST wounds." She corrected me as she downed her piece. "If you were to lose an arm or get shot somewhere very vital like the heart for example, you are as good as dead. There isn't enough aura that you can engage that will heal that."

"Okay. But it still protects me from damage so if I had my aura activated beforehand and I get hit in one of those places, I'd still be fine right?" I ask her.

"I know what you're getting at, Simin, and that isn't a mindset I would recommend adopting. Just because it protects you doesn't mean it's an excuse to get reckless. Your aura can break if enough damage is dealt and you won't be able to activate it again until it recharges. So just to be safe, let me run down the rules again:

1\. Without your aura engaged, you are susceptible to physical injury and harm.

2\. But if you were to get injured without your aura engaged and you activate your aura after receiving said injuries, they will heal (unless it's a mortal wound or any severe wound).

3\. If your aura is already activated, it will take damage for you and protect you from any physical harm (but you can still feel pain).

4\. But if your aura takes too much damage, it will break and that will also make you vulnerable to injury and you won't be able to activate it again until it fully recharges.

5\. Lastly, semblances (except passive ones) can drain aura, which means you need to use them in moderation.

As long as you can remember those 5 basic rules of aura, you should be fine."

"Just curious- and this might be a dumb question- but you know how you said aura is the manifestation of your soul?"

"Yes." Raven said, allowing me to continue.

"Does that mean your soul is basically being moved out of your body and taking a physical form?"

"Well-"

"And if that's the case, then doesn't that mean your soul is literally taking hits for you?"

"Well-"

"And if your soul takes hits doesn't that mean your soul itself is taking damage?"

"Simin-"

"And if it takes too much damage and it breaks, then doesn't your soul get destroyed and cause you to die?"

"Simin, let me-"

"And what if it gets drained from using-"

"SIMIN!" She shouted, now annoyed.

I immediately shut up with a bit of a startled yelp.

"Slow down… shut up… and let me answer your question." Raven spoke as she lowered her voice to that of the tone of a low growl.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Okay, I'll admit what I told you is the textbook definition and, yeah, it's a bit vague in how it's worded. So allow me to get more into detail as to how your aura gets generated and what is your aura really. Let me put it this way: your aura isn't necessarily your actual soul being generated around you, but rather a… uh… a proxy of sorts."

"A proxy?" I ask.

"Yes, a proxy. A substitute. A stand-in. You are not moving your soul outside your body, but rather you are tapping into your soul and harnessing the spiritual energy it emits to generate a barrier outside your body. And as we already know, the more mastery you have of your aura, the more of it you can generate. In other words, the more spiritual energy you can harness from tapping into your soul, the more aura you can generate. And the more aura you can generate, the faster it'll heal your wounds and the more it will protect you as it will last longer and allow you to push your semblance more. So your soul is still inside of you, Simin, but your aura is created by the energy that your soul emits, not the soul itself. And you are tapping into your soul and harnessing that energy to create that barrier. Let me use this metaphor on you just for good measure. Let's say your soul is a "generator", your soul's energy is "power", and your aura is "energy" while your semblance, healing factor, and protection are the "function" that the amount of "energy" you have allows to occur. When you start running low on "energy", or if your "energy" runs out, your "functions" will be disabled. But your "generator" will still work and will need to create more "power" so that it will restore "energy" and your "functions" will be enabled again. Your soul creates the spiritual energy that makes up your aura and enables you to use your semblance. Does that answer your question?"

"So it's like a system!"

"Yes! Exactly! Now you're getting it." Raven says like a teacher who had just gotten through to her student.

"So is there a limit to how much aura you can have activated at a time or that you can use?"

"Technically no. Your soul, on its own, is constantly generating spiritual energy. That means we actually have an infinite supply of energy to use to generate our aura. It's just that we can't really harness a lot of it at a time. Just enough to create a functioning protective aura and unlock and use our semblance -obviously not including those with passive semblances. But, as I just said, you actually have an infinite amount of spiritual energy. We all do. However, one thing you should note is that your soul only generates the energy needed to create your aura when it is not activated."

"So we have an infinite amount of spiritual energy, but we can only use so much to create an aura. Is it possible to tap further into your soul to harness more of your spiritual energy? And if that were to happen, how would it affect your aura? How far could someone push their aura if they could? Would there be other things that you could utilize your aura for other than what you just said?" I ask, my childlike curiosity toward something that still feels so new to me getting the better of me.

"As far as my knowledge goes, no. And if there was, I would have told you already. Everything that I've said to you regarding aura and semblances as well as what I've just told you is everything that I know." Raven says, answering my question.

"Oh, okay… Thanks, I guess..." I say, a bit disappointed.

I was kinda hoping she'd say yes. I'd love to see what other things people could do with aura. It probably would have been really cool or interesting.

"So Simin, I never really asked: how long were you out there before I ran into you?" Raven asked, changing the subject of the conversation after a few moments of silence, completely ignoring my thanks as she pulled off another piece of meat and put it in her mouth and quickly consumed it.

"A month and a half." I say bluntly.

This is almost starting to sound like that one conversation I had with Mari when I was in the cage… complete with a hint of awkwardness. I guess Raven isn't used to casual conversation since every time she speaks, it's usually with a somewhat authoritative tone or demeanor. Now that she's in a more casual setting, that authority she usually carries herself with just feels out of place here and she probably knows it, but still adopts it anyway since it's most likely what she's used to using. However, that's not to imply that I'm not contributing to the awkwardness at all. I'm also not exactly used to being in this kind of setting with Raven, so this is a little off putting to me as well.

"That long, huh? Well it's obvious you didn't learn the skills to have lasted that long on your own given your age and stature, which makes me wonder: who taught you?" Raven continued the conversation, which felt more like an interrogation given her demeanor as she leaned a bit close for my answer.

"My father." I answer, going along with it. "I owe it to him for teaching me the things I know. Honestly, I would have died within a couple days if it wasn't for him."

"So it was your father, huh?"

"Yes." I confirm.

"Did he ever teach you how to climb a tree?" Raven says, taking a bit of a verbal jab at me for earlier.

"We never spent too much time on that part." I answer back, causing Raven to slightly pause as if she was taken aback by something she wasn't expecting me to say.

"Did I say something wrong? Was she not expecting me to answer that?"

"... I can't tell if you're being a smartass or if you were serious with that response."

"What do you mean?" I respond with a bit of a curious look on my face.

I was being serious though. I guess my comment inadvertently came off as witty?

"Nevermind" Raven dismisses. "So, if you don't mind me asking, out of all the things your father taught you, whether that be a skill or some kind of lesson, which is the one that you value the most?"

"Probably the last thing. He told me that there would eventually come a day where being weak would no longer be an option. And that when that day comes I need to be strong enough to rely on myself in order to survive and fight for the life that I want, as well as be able to fight for those that I want to live alongside. It was a lesson that ended up quickly turning into reality the same night it was given to me." I say with a somber tone as my breath visibly exits my mouth and disappears into the light of the fire.

"I noticed you said the words, 'the life that I want'. What would you consider to be the life that you want?" Raven asked curiously.

"I… I don't know." I muttered. The life I want I already had. But then it got ripped away from me. I thought I could get it back, but that hoe ended up getting ground into dust. At this point, I don't know what I want exactly anymore.

"Speak up." Raven requested.

"I don't know." I repeat with a more audible tone.

"You don't know?" Raven said almost mockingly as she almost chuckled to herself and folded her arms across her chest as she leaned back a bit to her original posture.

"No." I answered bluntly, quickly picking up on her mocking tone.

"Well I think you do, but you just haven't realized it yet." My interrogator continues, still pressing the subject. "Clearly there is something that drives you given the amount of strength and determination you've shown in the past. What is your motivation? What is your end goal?"

"I'm just trying to live at this point." I say, trying to shut down her interrogation.

"Everyone is trying to live, Simin. But not everyone is trying for the same reason. We all have our own reasons and motivations to keep going. So I will ask you again: What are yours? What is your end goal? What is the life you want?"

"... I guess I don't have any." I answered stubbornly.

"Simin, don't lie to yourself. If you didn't have a reason to live, then you would have been dead by now. You would have just spat in my face and slapped my hand away the day I stuck it out to you. Your actions have shown me that you do have a reason. Otherwise for what reason are you still pushing and trying to grow? Simin, if you ask me- and this is just my opinion- you do have a reason. It's just that you haven't found it yet, but you know it's out there and you're still looking for it. There is something you're fighting for, Simin. Something you're longing for. What your purpose is. You just feel lost right now and you don't know what it is yet. But it's there. You'll find your way sooner or later. Again, that's just my opinion. You know yourself better than anyone, but that's just what I think."

I went a bit silent as I reflected on her words.

Maybe she's right. Maybe it's not that I don't have a reason, it's that I just haven't figured out what it is yet. But what could that reason even be? I don't even know what it is exactly that I want- what I'm longing for. Anything I could think of that I want, I already lost and can't have anymore as I've already given up on that. So what do I want? Is it purpose? Is it fellowship? Is it something to fight for? Is it someone to fight for? Or maybe what I want is something I know I can't have- something that will always be out of reach no matter how high I go? I feel like a dart that's been thrown in a dark room and somewhere in that room, on one of those walls, is a target. I'll only find out if I end up hitting it or not once my journey ends.

It feels so weird and... almost unnatural getting any kind of encouragement or support from Raven. I mean, I guess she's always been kind of supportive in a way, but it was always in a more strict and harsh kind of way if that makes sense. Almost like a parent that's always tough on you because they want to see the best from you. Although I'd hardly consider Raven parent material- not that I would ever say that to her face because I value my life. Anyway, this is a much more tame side to her compared to what I normally am used to seeing. I guess she's starting to settle into the casual setting.

"So anyway, how about I rephrase the question to at least help narrow it down?" Raven tries again. "Instead of telling me the life you want, how about this: what is the life you don't want? Of all the lives you could live, what is the one you want the least? What is a life that you dread living- a life that makes you shudder just by simply visualizing it?"

Upon hearing that, I think for a few seconds.

"A life that I would never want to live, essentially. What could that be? I mean, it could be a lot of things, but which one would I fear living the most? I guess to find that out is to go over what I've lost and what I've been through since Dorado. Let's start with my mother's death. Ever since she died, I've been holding onto her knife ever since as it is the only I have to remember her by. It's my most valued possession and I even got into a fight with a guy for it and almost killed him. Without it, I lose the last thing that reminds me of my mother and I don't know what I would do with it. You could almost say it's like a security blanket of sorts.

"Now moving onto my father. When I found him murdered, I was left in a state of shock and despair. It was to the point that I briefly deluded myself that it was just a dream as I tried to desperately wake myself up only to be greeted by the tragic reality.

"Then there's the loss of my home where not long after, the grimm destroyed my home as I was completely helpless as a friend sacrificed himself to save me. After that, I made it my goal to try and get my old life back and go to Oniyuri. But it was a ghost town when I arrived and I was hit with the reality that my old life was gone forever.

"But I still had Bruno, who was pretty much my best friend and all that I had left at that point. I was emotional when I found him again on that beach after I thought I had lost everyone I cared about. When I saw that I still had him, I was desperate to keep him as he was the only one left. When we made it to Oniyuri, I ended up fighting a beowolf to the death despite being already injured at that time while amidst my trauma being triggered. I eventually killed the thing after that weird surge of energy in me that disappeared as quickly as it came and I threw my father's sai that took its leg clean off after I saw that it was about to kill Bruno. Bruno and I then were on our way to Kuroyuri, after I found that letter. But then Bruno was killed by bandits. And when I saw him dead, I just… snapped. I had lost everyone I had held dear to me. More importantly, I lost all hope. I felt that I had nothing left to lose and was ready to throw my life away once I felt I had nothing left anymore…

"I went through all of that just to get back what I lost and keep what I still had and I still ended up losing everything. I just stopped caring and hoping. My worst fears came true that day."

I think I just found my answer.

"If there is anything I dread more than the grimm, Raven," I answer her. "...If there is a life that I dread living, I guess it's being alone with everything I ever loved and valued gone from my life. A life where there is no hope. I'd much rather die than ever live a life like that. When I lost the last of my family, I thought I had nothing left to lose. I lost all hope and I was ready to throw my life away at that moment. And when you captured me, I was ready to decline your offer the moment you first presented it to me. The last thing I ever wanted was to be alone with no hope and when that happened, I hit my lowest point and fell into despair. Now that I know what it feels like, I don't ever want to go through it again."

As I gave her my answer, Raven looked dead focused as she seemed to be analyzing every word that came out of my mouth as they came out.

"So you don't want to be alone with nothing? I can understand that. So I take it, logically, that means whatever life you do want is one that involves regaining what you lost?"

"I guess so, yeah." I answer. "Obviously not literally since what I've already lost is never coming back. But I want to regain some semblance of it."

"Would you say that you've succeeded or at least close?" Raven asked me.

"I…um." I audibly stumble, paranoid that I might upset her a bit with my answer.

"You can be honest with me here, Simin. I won't get offended regardless of your answer. I just want to know." She assures me.

"No..." I mutter. "But I have hope that I can."

"Hope? I thought you said you lost hope." Raven points out. "So what's changed since then?"

I stayed a bit silent for a few moments.

"It's Mari, isn't it?" Raven interrogated.

"N-no..." I lie.

My reason for this lie is that I remember Mari telling me that she was specifically told not to interact with me when I was in that cage. If I said yes, Raven would have most likely realized Mari did interact with me then. It's not that I think Raven is going to get severely punished or anything, but I just don't want to get her in any kind of trouble.

"Oh, please, Simin, don't lie to me." Raven says with a bit of a smirk as she caught me red-handed, causing me to sweat a bit. "It's clear to me that she's played a major role in you staying. After all, you're attached to her like velcro. And that attachment shows because she's starting to rub off on you. Your lie was just about as bad as hers are. So… spill it." Raven told me as she dropped her tone to a more serious one as she was eager for an answer (though you wouldn't be able to tell from her body language). "In what ways has Mari rekindled this hope for you?"

With no other choice, I comply with Raven's demands.

"Well… it's just that… she was just so kind to me… even when I didn't want her anywhere near me." I say as I finger the grooves on the bark of the log I was sitting on. "For that entire month and a half, I spent it getting mentally, emotionally, and psychologically, pummeled until I finally snapped. When I was captured, I was ready to toss my life away and was just waiting to die. I simply didn't really see the point anymore. And then Mari ended up pulling me out of that proverbial pit. Despite how I treated her and kept trying to push her away, she kept trying. She wouldn't give up on me. Eventually, I gave her a chance. And in return, she gave me hope- hope that maybe there is something that makes it all worth it and that I should find out what it is. She was like a breath of fresh air, you know? Mari gave me a reason to keep going. That maybe, just maybe, things will get better. That maybe I can really get back what I lost. And I'm not going to give up because she didn't give up on me."

The more I hang around Mari, the more I realize she strongly resembles my mother in regards to her personality. She's kind, caring, understanding, empathetic, genuine, and honestly, she's easily one of the nicest people I've ever met (which is weird considering she's part of a bandit tribe, which isn't exactly the place you'd expect to find any kind of hospitality). I see so many of mom's qualities in her. Raven may be the reason why I didn't die that day, but Mari is the reason why I chose to keep living after that.

"Well, that's Mari for you. She has a very stubborn heart." She says like she was taking an indirect passive-aggressive shot. "Once she feels strongly toward something, she'll stick to it no matter what and will be completely set in her ways, ...which is very fortunate for you. But unfortunately for her, because of her stubbornness, she is also someone who is unwilling to change, even when the time calls for it." Raven said as she was referring to something.

"Well how do you know that?" I ask her.

"Just take my word for it." Raven suggested as her tone was clear she didn't feel like talking about whatever it was she was referring to.

"But-"

"It's best that you start eating now." She cut me off with slight irritation in her voice as she quickly changed the subject. "Your food's getting cold."

"Okay,... nevermind." I mutter, getting the hint, as she basically gave me a passive 'shut up and drop it'.

A small period of silence passed after that brief, awkward exchange (even though I was probably the only one who felt awkward). That was weird. She immediately dropped the topic about as fast as it was brought up. I wonder what was bothering her. Whatever it was, I don't want to pry. Raven's irritated tone was more than enough for shut me up.

Even in a casual setting, she seems to still intimidate me. Not as much as when she's actually trying to be intimidating, but still enough to feel a slight sense of caution around her. I guess it's just natural for her. Raven seems like the type of person who could be bloodied, battered, and injured and she would still give you a look that would make you think twice about making a move on her. I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it. As I continued to eat from my hawk leg, I decided to wait for Raven to speak up next since I figured it would be better considering the note I left our last exchange on.

After a few minutes, she eventually did.

"About those weapons of yours." Raven says, changing the subject. "Am I correct to assume those were your father's?" She then points to the pair of sai.

"Yes." I say, again, bluntly. I couldn't help but notice she was also directing her attention to my knife, whose hilt was just poking out from my boot.

"And what about the knife? Was that your father's too"

"No. The knife belonged to my mother." I answer as I pulled it out to inspect it when she brought it up.

"Really? It's… very ornate." Raven says, as she extends her open hand for me to hand it to her.

"Yeah… it is." I half-answer as I was a bit lost gazing at the small blade in my hand.

"Mind if I take a closer look?" She asked.

"I... I don't know. It's something I hold very dear to me." I barely say as I place a protective hand over the hilt.

"Well if it means that much to you, then I will be extra careful, Simin." Raven tries

to assure me. "I assure you, I just want to examine it and then I'll immediately return it. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I-"

"Simin,..." She interrupted. "... I can tell you don't exactly fully trust me and I don't blame you. I can understand that considering the... color of my character. But let me remind you that you are part of my tribe now. I'm not your enemy. Not to mention this wouldn't be the first time your knife was in my possession and care. Remember when you got it back when you joined and it was good as new? I didn't have to do that, you know. And that was before I even knew how important it was to you."

(Sigh).

"I… I guess you have a point…" I say with reluctance in my voice.

"Don't worry. I'll even be quick about it- no more than 30 seconds- if it helps put you at ease." Raven says, still trying to reassure me.

I reluctantly stretch my arm out to the bandit leader, my most valuable possession resting in my grasp. Raven then proceeded to remove her glove as she reached out and took the knife from my hand, now putting it in her possession once more. As her hand slightly touched mine, I couldn't help but feel how cold she was.

I watch Raven closely as she examines the blade almost as if she were an appraiser determining the worth of a jewel. While she is doing this, I literally start mentally counting to 30 to make sure she doesn't try going beyond her time. She then runs her pale finger along the edge of the blade before reaching up to the crown of her head and plucking a strand of hair like a feather as she releases it, gently floating down and splitting as it touches the blade.

"Very sharp." She whispered quietly to herself.

She then held the blade closer toward the light of the fire (which I would be lying if I said that didn't make me break a sweat as I was ready to lunge and grab the blade if she accidentally dropped it). Her red eyes seemingly glowing in the fire, Raven started inspecting the floral design and blue tint that, in the light of the fire, gave the blade and design a bit of a glowing aura or halo of sorts around it. After she was done, she handed my blade back right as soon as I reached 30 just like she promised. Once I took the knife back, her hand slightly touched mine again in the process and I noticed it was a bit warmer (probably due to her holding it so close to the fire).

"I have to admit the craftsmanship is very elegant. Not to mention the sharpness of the blade." Raven said as I grasped the hilt of the knife and put it away.

"You know I almost lost it out in the wilderness one time." I add. "I ended up encountering a colossus when I tried to get it back. I barely escaped with my life. As for the colossus, it wasn't so lucky."

"Wait, you killed a colossus?" Raven asks with a bit of surprise in her voice as it seems like I may have impressed her.

"Well it was actually the rocks that killed it." I corrected her. "I just set it up."

"Oh." She states as she sounded a bit let down by my clarification. "Well, regardless, the fact you even survived an encounter with one of those is pretty impressive for someone of your age and size. I'm sure you found out the hard way how tough colossi are to kill?"

"I stabbed it in the neck and eyes, which I thought would be vital points, and it didn't even flinch!" I say with a sort of 'I know, right?!' tone.

"Yeah,..." Raven says as she stifles a chuckle at my response. "They also have a very high pain tolerance. They're almost like machines."

"I actually used that to my advantage."

"Really? Do tell." She says with curiosity.

"I stabbed it in the back of the knees to temporarily immobilize it and I used that as part of my plan to get it killed when I made it send a giant rock formation crashing down on its head after I gauged its power. Although I almost ended up getting buried with it. But obviously,..." I say gesturing to myself. "...that didn't happen."

"You're lucky they are about as strong as they are stupid. Otherwise, you might not have come out of that alive. Speaking of which, it seems like luck was the reason why you survived that encounter at all."

"Yeah, I think so too." I say as I rub the back of my neck and chuckle a bit. "If it weren't for a well timed, conveniently placed, falling jagged rock, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It was also in that fight that I ended up receiving my rib injuries, by the way."

"That reminds me: Speaking of injuries, how is your arm?" Raven gestures to my wrapped up arm.

"It feels... fine... I guess." I say, holding it in front of me and turning it like I was giving myself an examination "It doesn't hurt much anymore." I lightly rub the bandaged area.

"Let me see." Raven demands as she makes a hand motion for me to give her my arm.

I slowly roll up my sleeve and watch as Raven moves closer and takes my arm as she unravels the bloody bandage wrapped around my forearm. As I did, I noticed the gashes on my arm were now reduced to tiny little scratches. There was still some dried blood left on the skin though. Eventually, after closely examining it, Raven released my arm as I brought it back closer to me.

"Looks like your training with us is paying off, judging from the rate your aura is healing those wounds." She says as she tosses the dirty bandages into the fire to add fuel to the flames. "If it were me with those wounds -although I would never let that happen- they would heal up in just a few seconds. In other words, you still have a long way to go considering how little you have right now. Plus, your aura engagement could still use some work. But don't worry. In time, it'll become about as second nature as walking or breathing."

"I see." I respond as I gaze upon the campfire.

The fire was starting to die out a bit, the bandages burning up rather quickly, as the area of light around us shrank little by little with each minute that passed as the darkness slowly consumed us both. I could still feel the heat from the flames though, which were doing a good enough job at keeping me comfortably warm. I couldn't help but become entranced by the glowing embers that slowly floated their way up toward the sky like a swarm of fireflies accompanied by the soft crackle of the wood being devoured by the flames. It's strangely hypnotic. It's kinda making me… sleepy.

As my eyelids grew heavy and I slowly started to fade, I could feel my face gradually getting warmer. I then heard a sharp gasp followed by someone quickly calling my name as well as a force pushing me backward. As I snapped out of my drowsy state, I see Raven standing over the small campfire with her hand on my chest and the other behind my shoulder as if she were holding me up.

"W-what? What happened?" I ask, sort of slurring my words as I was getting my bearings.

"You almost fell right into the campfire!" She answered with a hint of concern or worry in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Raven." I say through a yawn while rubbing my eyes. "It's been a long day and I guess it finally caught up to me."

"Well in that case, I think we should call it a night then. Go get some sleep and I'll keep watch for a-"

"Wait, Raven. Um… sorry to interrupt you, but… there's something I've been meaning to ask you." I say as I anticipated a scolding remark or her to snap at me for cutting her off. To my surprise (and relief), Raven didn't say anything. She was slightly caught off guard, but after a couple seconds, she silently motioned her hand for me to speak as she sat back down on her spot.

"Raven, I… I remember you telling me on the day I decided to join your tribe that there was no room for things such as compassion and mercy and kindness in this world."

"Yes? And what about it?" Raven asks, cueing me to continue.

"Well… when we first met, I actively tried to kill you and you had every chance to easily kill me… but you didn't. In fact, instead of killing me, you saved me and even treated my wounds and gave me the chance to be a part of your tribe. Why? I understand that you called me an asset who could contribute to the tribe as well as what you said about me being fated to be a part of it, but I feel like there is something more than that that you didn't tell me."

"Well you're clearly overthinking it, Simin." Raven said, quickly trying to dismiss my question. "I only helped you and took you in because I saw what you are capable of-"

"Raven,..." I interrupt again, being a bit more assertive to pry out the answer I know she's not giving me. "Going by your logic, you should have killed me the moment you saw me. I killed six of your own and you didn't kill me. I then tried to kill you and you didn't kill me. Then I threatened the tribe and you to your face and you didn't kill me. Even when I struck Mari with a rock, you still didn't kill me. When I first met you, I didn't give you a single reason to let me live, yet you found one. But that reason couldn't be because you saw me as a potential asset to the tribe. If anything, I was a hazard to the tribe and a clear one at that. I was not worth the risk. Going by your way of thinking, the smart thing to do would have been to kill me right then and there, but instead you made me your top priority and you… saved me... with the help of Mari, and took me in. You kept giving me chances even though I showed that I didn't deserve them. You didn't want me to join because you saw me as an asset. I just don't buy it. I showed myself to be more of a risk if anything. So why did you take that risk with me? What's the real reason you spared me and let me join? Why was I the exception?"

Raven paused and sat in silence, her head slightly bowed and hands folded together as her fingers intertwined with each other. Following her eyes in the dim light of the flames, I could see her look to the side as if she were searching for an answer. I could tell I backed her into a corner. I might regret that later, but this is something I need to know. Eventually Raven nodded to herself as if she were giving herself a mental confirmation that she was ready for me to hear what she was about to say- or more like she was ready to tell me what she was about to say.

"I don't know, Simin."

Hearing her say that genuinely shocked me. I never thought I'd ever hear Raven admit that she didn't know something. Especially to me of all people.

"Maybe I did only see you as an asset. Maybe I did see you as a fated member of our tribe. Or maybe… maybe it was because I just pitied you. When I heard the commotion three months ago and realized my own tribe members were being attacked, I was ready to kill the person (or people) who dared to try without hesitation. I was going to end their life before they even had the chance to regret it. But as I entered that clearing, the first thing I expected to see was maybe some grimm or perhaps armed guards from a caravan since the area was not too far away from a road. But the last thing I expected to see was a wounded, bloody child surrounded by bodies wailing away on one of my own with the most anguished expression I had ever seen on a living being. Seeing you like that back there, it showed me how much the world had affected you. You are the only person outside of my tribe to ever make me feel that. In a way, I almost felt like I understood you."

"What do you mean?" I ask, hoping she would elaborate for me.

"Simin, I am about to tell you something that I honestly have never shared with anyone as this is what I believe to be the best way for you to understand. The only people who know are the ones who were there for it. So do me this favor and sit next to me because 1) I am not risking you falling into that fire again and I need to concentrate on my story rather than constantly focus on you and 2) because I want you to listen closely because I will not be repeating this and I don't expect you to either."

I got up from where I was and walked to where Raven was sitting and plopped myself down next to her like she said. After that, I looked up at her and slightly angled my body toward her, letting Raven know I was ready to listen.

. . .

"Let's start off with the basics. My brother and I never came from any of the kingdoms. We have pretty much lived the very vast majority of our lives out here. Because of that, my brother and I were always looking out for each other and having each other's backs. As for our parents, they actually were wanted criminals who had fled the city of Mistral. They decided to rob someone and that robbery ended up turning into a murder. It was quickly discovered that the person they murdered just so happened to be a relative of one of the members of the Mistral council. So a kingdom-wide manhunt was put into effect and they, realizing how fucked they were, fled via the city's criminal underground. They originally wanted to flee to Vale or even Vacuo to hide, but since the kingdoms are in direct communication with each other, that became impossible when they caught wind. So they ended up hiding themselves away in a remote part of the kingdom's territory. Realizing their lives were going to be a lot harder from then on, they had us… for the sole purpose of making their lives easier."

"What do you mean?" I ask Raven again.

"We were essentially tools to them." She answered. "The only thing we ever were to them was tools to make their lives easier. And we hated them for it. We hated them with a passion. But we also feared them. The reason why was because we knew why they had us. And they made it very clear to us that we were dispensable and replaceable to them. There were times where me and my brother would work nonstop like our lives depended on it because I was afraid they really would kill us if they weren't satisfied with what we did, so we would always go beyond every single day. Even if we were working hurt or sick, you wouldn't be able to tell. We felt so weak and helpless… and that was exactly what they wanted and they wanted us to stay that way."

"We spent most of our childhoods shackled in a back room downstairs where the only source of light was whatever shone through some of the cracks in the walls. The only time we would ever be let out was to do a certain job around the house, which was pretty much all of them as they did nothing, but watch us or lounge around the house. And if we messed up, the consequences were brutal. I remember one time my brother once broke a plate on accident due to his semblance when he was cleaning the dishes and to punish him, my father made him watch as he wailed on me. Killing two birds with one stone through both psychological and physical punishment. By the time he was done, my father told Qrow that he can go back to cleaning the dishes before giving him a warning: 'Break another plate and I break her other arm!'. My arm didn't actually break though. The elbow was just dislocated, but I wasn't going to let him know that otherwise he'd try it again. But I didn't bother popping it back into socket until later because he would find out and, as I just said, try it again. So I just let it dangle the rest of the day and reset it later. My arm did eventually make a full recovery though, but the pain from that is something that stuck with me for a while. Now, my elbow clicks every time I stretch it out and rotate it."

As she said that Raven then stretched her left arm forward and proceeded to rotate it counterclockwise as it was accompanied by the muffled noise of two instant clicks.

"Also, when we were much younger, my brother used to have night terrors. Last I checked he no longer has them. But when he did, every time he would make too much noise such as when he would kick something over in his sleep or let out a cry, our mother would just come downstairs to the back room and put a gag on him or tie his legs up. And it's not like we could have taken it off.

"For years we were even subjected to malnourishment. They would give us small amounts of food everyday for our meals and we'd pretty much get 'rewarded' with the rest when we had completed our work. The meals were really just enough to keep us able to work, but not enough to be able to put up a fight. This was always harder on my brother since he already had a thin frame. He's always been very thin and lanky."

"Eventually, my brother and I decided that we had had enough. We weren't going to let this be what our lives were anymore. By then we were just waiting for the right moment. Then came June 13th, we were 13 years old- having already turned 13 four months prior. One night, my mother was locking us in, one of the keys fell off the ring and got misplaced. We hadn't even realized it until we overheard her asking our father where it was. I remember my heart started to race a bit as soon as I heard the words, 'Where's the key to the restraints?' Qrow and I scanned the basement as we frantically moved our eyes around to spot the silhouette of the key in the darkness and, lo and behold, there it was, right in front of us being illuminated by a beam of moonlight shining through the cracks- very unlucky for the two scumbags upstairs. My brother, much taller than I am, stretched his legs and slid the keys over with his foot, which our mother could not hear since she was frantically searching upstairs for them while shouting back and forth with our father. Qrow managed to unlock us both and it didn't take us long to hatch a plan, which was improvised for the most part.

"I put Qrow back into his restraints- keeping them unlocked, of course- and he kicked something over and ended up breaking a bottle near where he was to make a noise loud enough to lure my mom down, who thought it was just him having another night terror, which we anticipated. As for me, I kept myself hidden in a corner with a rope in hand and waited. I also tossed the key in an open spot so that when our mom walked through, she would immediately find it.

"When she came down and opened the door, just like we predicted, she immediately noticed the key and didn't pick up on the fact that Qrow's restraints were locked and that I wasn't in mine as she bent down to grab it with a sigh of relief. Before she could even do anything, I immediately closed the door, pushing us into a mostly dark environment as I jumped on her back and proceeded to wrap the rope around her neck. We had pretty good sight in the dark as well as a perfect memorization of the layout of the room, so we weren't worried. As for her, she may as well have been blindfolded. I remember instantly feeling her heartbeat and pulse rapidly increase once she realized what was happening. And she couldn't call out because of the rope. She was at our mercy… - something we had no intentions on giving after what we were put through. Once he saw his opening, my brother then got out of his restraints and grabbed the broken bottle and proceeded to drive the jagged glass into her jugular. Then everything just… stopped. That was our first kill."

I nervously swallowed as Raven narrated how her and her brother murdered their mother. I'm not going to lie. It very much disturbed me that Raven literally recollected her committing of matricide and there was no remorse in her voice when she said it.

"Something wrong, Simin?" Raven said as she looked down to me noticing the uncomfortable look on my face.

"No, no. I'm fine." I unconvincingly reply.

"I can understand if you're uncomfortable. Do you want me to stop?" She offers.

"No. You can continue." I answer her with some grimness in my voice.

"Are you sure?" The crimson-eyed woman asked one more time.

"...Yes." I say as I nod my head.

"Well okay then. If this gets too much, you tell me. Understand?"

"Okay." I lie. Even though I do feel a bit uncomfortable, I do want to know more about her past.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh right. The two of us had pretty much snapped and crossed the point of no return. After we killed our mother, we knew it would be too dangerous to leave the room to go after our father next. So what we did was that we broke a large hole in the wall of the back room, just big enough for a child to go through, which made enough noise for our dad to come down to investigate. We made ourselves hidden in the room knowing that our dad was heading down. The second he opened the door, the first things he saw were our dead mother, a pair of empty shackles, and a hole in the wall just large enough for a child to squeeze through. Just from the look on his face, we could tell he was absolutely enraged. And because of his rage, he wasn't thinking when he ran out to try and locate us, completely forgetting to bring his weapon. Because of that, we took advantage of our opening and I ran upstairs and grabbed it while my brother was downstairs gathering food and serving as a lookout in case he came back before we could make our escape.

"Unfortunately, it didn't take long for him to realize he forgot his weapon as my brother called out to me. We knew he was aiming to kill us at this point, so we knew what we had to do. We weren't exactly high on options there. I quickly came downstairs and waited for our dad to open the door. The moment he saw me and realized he was facing the wrong end of the barrel, his face instantly went from a raging red to a pale white. I didn't even let him get a word out as I shot him in the shoulder, which ended up flooring him. As soon as he hit the ground, Qrow and I tied him up as we started gathering as much supplies we could realistically carry with us. As we were about to head out, our dad said something absolutely venomous to me:

"'You two weak ass piece of shit nothings will never survive out there! So you might as well just save yourselves the trouble and use the rest of the bullets on your brother and then yourself!'"

"...That really pissed me off. Letting my anger get the better of me, in that moment, I walked right back in and marched over to him…. and I emptied the weapon as I fired every remaining bullet into his body, killing him. Then I... sort of kicked and pistol whipped his body a few times before my brother came back in and calmed me down as I was just letting out years of pent up aggression on the corpse."

"How long ago was that?" I speak up.

"About sixteen years ago." Raven answered, with little emotion in her voice.

"Looking back at it, is there... anything you regret from that night?" I felt compelled to ask this because it sounded like there was a hint of regret in her voice when she talked about unloading the gun into her father.

"My biggest regret was that I wasted our ammunition." Raven said coldly.

"Oh…" I said quietly.

"What, did you think I was going to say I regretted us killing them? There was no way we were going to leave without a fight. I don't regret doing what we did."

With nothing to respond with, I stayed silent.

"After we were done,..." Raven resumed as she interpreted my silence as her cue to continue. "...we took what we could carry and then I, still holding on to some of that anger I had felt, lit a match and burned the house to the ground as we left. In case you couldn't tell, I used to be a very hot-headed kid from that point on."

"Don't worry. I kinda gathered that by now." I say with a bit of sarcasm to lighten the mood a little bit.

In response, Raven gave me a bit of a side-eye before moving her eyes away for a split second and let out a quiet titter, a noise I never thought I would hear from her, let alone capable of making.

"So anyway, why did you burn the house down?"

"Well aside from what I already said, it was also because the place just brought bad memories and I didn't think I'd be able to rest knowing that that glorified dungeon was still standing. So I also burned it down to sort of put myself at ease. We had no intentions of going back anyway since we would rather take our chances out in the wilderness than spend another second there. As far as me and my brother were concerned, we had no family... except for each other, that is.

"The first couple weeks of surviving was pretty tough for us, especially since we didn't really have any survival skills due to being kept away for so long. But eventually, we learned to adapt as we started rationing our food to help us last longer as well as learning how to withstand the elements. It wasn't easy, but we somehow managed to last until the end of August by taking care of each other.

"By the end of August, we were running very low on food and we started rationing more to try and make it last. But we were getting very hungry and I was getting desperate. On the night of September 1st, we stumbled upon a small campsite with a few people that looked like bandits. We could tell because of the clothes they were wearing and the shape of the weapon that the guy on watch had. I opted for us to steal their food, but Qrow was initially against it, always trying to be a voice of reason. But like I said, I was desperate. I went out anyway, dragging him along with me and just when we were about to make off with a considerable amount of food, I ended up dropping a can that ended up waking the camp. Qrow beat himself up for that for a while because he blamed it on his bad luck semblance. Anyway, we tried to make a break for it, but we were just so tired and weak that we didn't even make it out of the light of their fire before they had caught us.

"At that moment, I was afraid of what they'll do to us. Rob us, kill us, etc. My brother had managed to stab one of them in the leg and proceeded to toss me his gun before he ended up getting held down. So in the heat of the moment, I made a gamble and picked up the gun and aimed it at one of them. I had no intentions on killing them as I was hoping I could scare them off since I wanted a weapon where I could keep the ammo this time as well as get them to let us go. Unfortunately for us, the person I had pointed it at just so happened to be the bandit leader. This led to the others instantly drawing their weapons. Their leader immediately called them off and told them to put their weapons down as he approached me. I noticed he had a curious look in his eye. He then got down to one knee, and proceeded to press his head against the barrel and look me in the eyes. He was testing me. He wanted to see if I had what it takes to actually do it. I wasn't against killing though, obviously. I mean, we already had two kills under our belt by that point. But this guy… there was something about him that was so intimidating and menacing. When I looked him in the eyes, there was no fear. He almost looked as if he was daring me to shoot him. I couldn't help but hesitate. The guy eventually grew impatient with me and said:

"What's wrong, kid?' He told me. 'Are you going to shoot me or are you going to waste my time and insult me? Am I not a big enough threat, is that it?'

"I stayed silent as I wasn't too sure what to do. I guess you could say I froze up. And then he proceeded to pull out his own weapon and press it against my forehead as well. My heart was racing.

"'How about now?' He asked me.

"I tried to keep it cool, but I was shaking inside. There was something about him that shook me to the core. But then he did something that lit a fire under me.

"'Well alright… if you won't do it to save your own skin, then maybe you'll do it to save his.' That's what he said as he then pointed his weapon at my brother.

"The moment he did that, I instantly stopped becoming afraid of him and I immediately pulled the trigger and shot him. And I said, 'Don't you ever threaten my family again!'.

"I remember his subordinates standing there shocked for a few seconds as they saw their leader get shot right in front of them. But it didn't take long before they drew their weapons again, ready to kill me and Qrow on the spot. But then I remember him immediately sticking his hand up to call them off again as he got back up. I was absolutely confused and shocked. I had just shot this man and he got back up without a scratch on him. And his subordinates didn't seem shocked he was alive either, but rather confused that he was calling them off again. I was completely taken aback. The reason why he survived was because he had his aura activated. But at the time, I didn't know what aura was.

"Before my senses could return after seeing the shock of this guy brush a bullet off like it was nothing, he quickly disarmed me and took me to the ground. But the way he was holding me down along with the pressure he was applying, it wasn't hurting. He wasn't trying to harm, but to just restrain me. He then started talkin to me:

"'You have guts, kid. I respect that. What's your name?'"

"'Raven…' I answered him with a bit of contempt in my voice since I was still mad about him threatening my brother.

"'And 'Longshanks' over there?' He said referring to my brother.

"Qrow has very long legs, so that's why he called him that. That was the nickname he would call him for about as long as we knew him. Qrow hated it and it always got a laugh out of me precisely for that reason. Anyway, back to what he said to me:

"'That's my brother, Qrow.' I told him.

"'Do you have a last name or something?' He asked me.

"I refused to answer and stayed silent and so did my brother when he asked him the same question. Due to the heavy resentment we held toward our parents, we didn't want to hold onto anything that tied us to them or reminded us of them. So because of that, we sort of disowned our last names and refused to go by them. He then took that as his cue to speak up again to break the silence:

"'Well alright then, I guess that means it's my turn. My name is Shepherd. Shepherd Branwen. And I'm the leader of our tribe.'

"'And why should I care?' I asked him. 'Did you just want to introduce yourself before you killed us'

"'Actually, on the contrary. I have no intentions on killing you.' He revealed to me, which very much surprised me and Qrow. 'Besides, it would just be a waste of energy and time. I'd hardly consider you a threat and there's nothing to gain from killing you anyway. I actually want to make you an offer.'

"'What kind of offer?' I asked with a curious voice.

"'The kind that will save your lives depending on what you choose.' With that, he took his foot off me so I could stand up and listen to his offer as well as calling his people to get off my brother as well as he rejoined me to also listen in. 'You two look like you've seen better days. How long have you been out here?'

"'Two and half months.' Qrow answered that time.

"'Ah, so you two kids are a couple of survivors. You must be quite the fighters then to have lasted this long on your own-'

"'We've been on our own long before that.' I chimed in. 'We've always been on our own.'

"'Elaborate.' He requested.

"'We'd rather not.' I told him after Qrow and I exchanged a glance.

"Well, anyway, back to the offer. You two kids seem like you have no place to go. And it looks like you're on your last leg. I want to offer you to join our tribe. Be a part of my family.' He offered us.

"We scoffed and rolled our eyes at just the mere mention of the word "family".

"'I'm not sure I want to join the guy who literally threatened my brother's life. We're all that we need.. and want.' I told him.

"'I second that.' Qrow chimed in again. "'I watched you hold a gun to my sister's head right in front of me! You're crazy if you think we'll join you after that!'

"'So I take it you think your chances are better out there than with me then? Am I correct? Or are you saying you'd rather starve to death? Listen close, kids, do you really think you stand a chance out there with nothing but your bare hands and the clothes on your back? Face it. You won't last until the end of the week out there. And the fact you tried stealing from us shows that.'

"'How?' I asked him with a bit of hostility in my voice.

"'There are two types of people who steal in this world: the greedy and the desperate. One does it out of desire while the other does it out of necessity. You two going out of your way to try and steal food from us shows you are in dire need of a saving grace. And judging from the shape you're in, you kids don't strike me as the greedy type. You just want to live, don't you? Well guess what? So do we. And we will do whatever is necessary to stay alive and look out for each other. You and your brother are just looking out for each other too. You live for each other. That's why you did this. That's why you shot me. You wanted to protect your family. We're not so different, you and I. So I want to give you a chance to save your skins. If you want to be angry, that's fine. I won't blame you. But don't be stupid.'

"I admit, he had us there. But at the time, we were just a couple of irrational kids too angry to think straight, especially in that moment considering the stunt he pulled."

"So in other words…?" I interrupted.

"In other words, we still denied without a second thought." Raven answered.

"Ah…"

"He gave us a couple chances to reconsider and… well… we spat in his face. Both of us. His cronies tried to make a move toward us after that, but Shepherd immediately called them off and just sent us on our way. We then ran off into the night and disappeared in the dark in case he decided to change his mind.

"Now for the next few days they were nothing short of a struggle. We were too weak to even catch anything by that point. We tried setting up traps, but bad luck would always be just around the corner as they would always break on us. We were tired, scraped and dirty from head to toe, tattered clothes and mangled up shoes. But we still had each other and that was more than enough motivation for us to keep going. But our journey almost ended up stopping dead in its tracks when we encountered and got surrounded by a small group of ursai, which are basically grimm that closely resemble large bears.

"At that point, Qrow and I felt like we were finished. We just grabbed each other's hand and just waited for them to tear us apart. If there was any consolation, at least we would be going out together. But right before the very moment they began to move in on us, they immediately stopped dead in this tracks as the first three that even got close were cleaved in two. It was so fast, we didn't even see what caused it. Next thing you know, another small group of ursai got slaughtered, followed by another and another. We were so confused just seeing these beasts die right in front of us. But one thing we noticed was that every time one got sliced into two, there was a slashing sound accompanied by what looked like a human dashing by. Not a single ursa got anywhere near us. When the person who saved us revealed themselves, we saw that it was Shepherd. Apparently he had been keeping an eye on us after he sent us off.

"'So… are you ready to take me up on my offer?' That was the first thing he said to us, obviously poking fun at us as he was basically saying 'I told you so.'

"I was honestly shocked to see him. And even more shocked to hear him continue to offer us to join. After we had tried stealing from him, after I had shot him, and spat in his face, he was still offering to let us join him. He kept giving us chances when we didn't deserve it. At that moment, I couldn't help but let out 13 years of pent up emotion as my brother and I embraced each other after our close call with death had finally set in our heads.

"However, our moment didn't last long as Shepherd yelled at us to try and suppress our emotions. He said:

"'If you're going to cry, out here is never the place to do it. Otherwise you are just inviting the world to have its way with you.' Obviously referring to the grimm since negative emotions attract them, but also because when you are out here, you can't show that you're vulnerable or it will be taken advantage of. Similar to how you panicked when killing the hawk, Simin.

"'So…' He said getting back to the chase. '... what's your final verdict?'

"'Fine!' I told him as it was pretty clear that Qrow and I didn't have much of a choice since it was either that or we die out here. 'We'll join your stupid tribe! But we're not going to like it. We're only doing this to stay alive.'

"'Alright. It's settled then. Welcome to the Branwen tribe.' He told us as if we had just passed a job interview. 'As of this moment, you are now a part of my family. Now, with that out of the way-'

"He then proceeded to punch us both in the stomach, completely leaving us gasping for air as we were hunched over on the ground. He then said:

"'Don't ever disrespect me the way you did again when you spat in my face. Especially in front of my family. If it were anyone else, I would have killed them on the spot. So be glad that I've taken an interest in you two because that's what saved you. Do not let this happen again. Do I make myself clear?'

"We both nodded our heads since we were too winded to say anything and he proceeded to pick us up and carry us for the rest of the day due to our exhaustion. That night we rested and we were a bit apprehensive toward him as we watched his moves very closely, anticipating him to try something funny. He never really did and we slowly lowered our guard. Especially since he kept giving us food due to how hungry we were.

"I still didn't like him much though, but after seeing what he did when he saved us, I couldn't help but at least respect and appreciate him. He saved our lives and I couldn't deny that. I didn't even know someone could even be that strong. And the fact he did it with such ease showed that he was holding back. I started to take an interest in him as well. And by that, I mean I wanted to be as strong as him. My brother too, but especially me. I wanted to be strong enough to look out for him and myself.

"Eventually, we arrived at camp on the 8th of September and things were a bit awkward for us at first since Qrow and I wouldn't talk to anyone, but each other and Shepherd every now and then. Some of the other members would try to reach out to us, but we were just so apprehensive. We didn't exactly trust them, especially considering how our last family was. Shepherd was the only one we felt slightly at ease around. So because of that we would always be by ourselves doing our own thing or sneaking out of the camp grounds to watch Shepherd train. We did that a lot. We were so fascinated at how someone could be as strong as he was and we would just be in awe watching him either tear up the place around him or walk into grimm infested territory and just take on whole hordes single-handedly. He was something else.

"One day, we got caught in the act of spying on him. He gave us a verbal lashing for that and went on about how we could have gotten hurt for being in such close proximity. He would then go on to ask us about why we even left in the first place. We would tell him about how we just felt apprehensive about the other members and that we didn't exactly trust them. Shepherd would say:

"'Why don't you trust them? They're your family.' He told us.

"'Well. that's the thing.' Qrow answered. 'Outside of my sister and I, the only family we had…well... let's just say we were dealt a bad hand.'

"Shepherd would then tell us to elaborate and then we would actually tell him about our parents and what we went through and how we killed them. Basically everything I've told you just now.

"'We are not your old family.' He told us, trying to get us to trust him on this. 'You are part of my tribe now, which means we are your family, not them. They will care for you just like I have. And if they ever tried something to harm you- which they won't-, they'd be dealing with me, and they know that. But aside from that, I promise you they won't do that. And I know you trust me, so trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about here.'

"Shepherd always referred to us as his family, never as his underlings, or subordinates or anything of the sort. We eventually did agree to loosen up a bit and try to open up more around them. But after we had agreed, he could still tell there was something else on our minds. We also admitted that we were interested in how strong he was and that we also snuck out because we wanted to be as strong as him and it was at that moment that we requested to be trained under him. He was a bit apprehensive at first about it, but we wouldn't top bugging him about it and he eventually relented. We began our training the next day.

"When we started, the first thing we worked on was discipline."

"Discipline?" I interrupted.

"Yes, I know. Discipline isn't exactly the first word that comes to mind when you think of a bandit, but Shepherd was surprisingly disciplined for someone of his reputation. He had his own code and he expected us to follow it to the letter. Never get rattled, don't ever let yourself get overwhelmed or intimidated, push to your limit, never back down, do whatever it takes to survive as well as preserve the tribe's survival, never kill one of your own, and most importantly, put the tribe before yourself. This is the same code I adopted and continue to live by to this day."

"So I take it you must hold Shepherd very highly, then." I comment.

"Gods, of course I did!" Raven responded. "He was the first person who treated me and my brother like we were worth a damn. There was a time where I used to think I was just nothing. Just a useless hunk of flesh and bone with nothing worth preserving. I owed so much to him for what he did for us. We saw him more as family than our parents ever were and same thing went for the tribe as well. And Shepherd and the tribe cared for us more than our parents ever did." Raven then slightly chuckled as she seemed to recall a memory that just entered the front of her mind. "One other thing I want to bring up is that since we were so young when we joined Shepherd's tribe, he never allowed us to drink any alcohol. And since there was a lot of that being drunk in the tribe, he was always very careful with what we were given to drink. They were our first real family. We looked up to him so much that we even donned his last name as a way of paying respect to him. Shepherd was a bit against us doing this, but that didn't stop us. Qrow and I were no longer just 'Raven' and 'Qrow'. From that point on, we were Qrow Branwen and Raven Branwen.

"Anyway, our training started off with us essentially learning to discipline ourselves. Sometimes it would require a test of patience or sometimes he would just come at us and see how we would react or how long we would be able to maintain our composure. My brother was actually very good at this and learned very quickly and moved up faster than I did. As for me, I struggled. Keeping a leveled head wasn't exactly my forte at the time. Even today I get my occasional hiccups, which I'm sure you've seen."

"And experienced." I say with a bit of sarcasm.

"...Anyway,..." She said as she narrowed her eyes at me. "...because of that, my brother, noticing how frustrated I was, would always train with me after our sessions and eventually, I would show some improvement. Shepherd noticed it too. Because of that, he felt we were ready for the next level and cranked it up a notch. He didn't go easy on us and would push us to our limit each time. Eventually we unlocked our auras and that only made him go even harder. Shepherd was easily the most difficult person I ever faced. He would thrash us around, but we kept getting back up and coming back for more. I always got so mad at him during our sessions…" Raven said with a small chuckle. "...but I couldn't help but be thankful as well. Though his training sessions were brutal, we understood it was to make us stronger. And because of that, we would constantly push ourselves both for each other and for Shepherd and the tribe so we could be able to take care of them like they did with us. And I would dedicate everything I did for them.

"So in the end, I guess what I'm trying to say, Simin, is despite not even knowing you or exactly what you went through, I felt like I could, to some extent, understand you. I understood your anger, your despair, your hostility because I've felt it too when I was a kid. The look in your eyes when I first saw you was the same look I had when I shot my father to death. The look you gave me when we first met was the look I gave Shepherd when I first met him. So I gave you a second chance at life- the same second chance that he gave me when I was in your shoes. I guess you could almost say, I see a part of myself in you. And I wanted to help you the same way Shepherd helped me and Qrow."

Wow! I never thought I would see this side of Raven. I didn't even know this side existed. That intimidating aura she used to give off, the nervousness I used to feel around her has suddenly vanished. I'm surprised I got her to open up to me in this way. But now I have a feeling there is more to the story. There has to be more such as how she became leader and I wonder if her bad blood with her brother has any connections to it. Maybe I can take advantage of the moment and get her to tell me. Let's find out.

. . .

"Raven, why do I get the feeling there's more to the story?" I speak up.

"Because there is." She answered coldly, yet somewhat somberly.

"I want to know the rest." I request.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I want to understand more about you." I say bluntly.

"What more would you need to understand? I answered your question, did I not?" Raven stated.

"Yes, but at this point, I want to know more about Shepherd and what happened to him, how you became the leader of the tribe, what happened between you and your brother."

"Those aren't important." She insisted.

She seems very avoidant now and slightly uncomfortable. With her intimidating aura now gone or the moment due to her opening up, it was easier for me to see when she was uncomfortable about something. But regardless, I still want to know. I know longer felt afraid to try and push to know more.

"Raven…" I say almost pleadingly.

Raven would pause a bit before eventually acquiescing with a sigh.

"Dammit… Why must you always have to know everything?" She says with another sigh as she gave in. "...Might as well, I guess. I hate leaving things unfinished anyway."

Once she said that, I straightened my posture a bit more as I was ready and eager to listen to the rest of her story.

"Now even though the image I've given you of Shepherd that sort of depicts him as a strict, I should let you know he also had a very brutal side to him. He had quite the mean streak. With us and the rest of the tribe, despite how tough he would be during our training sessions, Shepherd was actually very caring toward us, yet also firm as a leader. But as for those who were outside, specifically those who lived in the villages, he had no love or respect for them. His views were not very far from mine, although I personally think he was a bit more brutal. For those who lived in villages and never knew what it was like to live out here, taking on the brunt of nature and scratching, clawing, and fighting to survive, he didn't consider them survivors. He saw them as people who were nothing short of weak and therefore unfit to live in this world. To him they were just fodder to feed the strong, which are the people who do whatever it takes to survive at any cost and constantly push themselves to get stronger to protect what they hold dear. And for that, he would make himself judge, jury, and executioner."

"So he just killed people simply because he saw them as weak? Why?" I ask her.

"Shepherd was a man who believed that struggle and strength were one in the same and were just as necessary as the other to survive. You need to struggle to get stronger to survive. Those who have never struggled did not possess the strength to live out here and therefore were just wasting resources that the fittest would make the best use out of. Because they weren't pushing themselves by not doing whatever it took to survive, they were on Shepherd's chopping block. I don't exactly know what happened to Shepherd in his past, but he was always seemed somewhat disdainful of them. So he would attack them for two reasons: the first was to be able to appropriate resources that his tribe would make use of to survive and the second was to 'make room for the strong and fit' as he put it. The man was the embodiment of the phrase, 'Survival of the fittest.'

"He actually grew quite the reputation in Mistral and because of that, we constantly had to move to avoid Mistral authorities. To the villages that did know about him, he was referred to as 'Nature's Cruelest Force'. He attacked with unbridled cruelty and he did it indiscriminately and mercilessly. Although we wouldn't see this side of him more until we had turned 16, which was when he started taking us on raids.

"The first time we did see this side of him however was one time when it was discovered an outsider had killed one of us to thwart an attempted robbery. Shepherd seemed devastated by this. His body language showed that he seemed completely distraught. But the look in his eyes, I saw a desire and determination for revenge in them. I remember one day, July 17th, Shepherd was heading outside camp and immediately, without warning, motioned for us to come to him so he could tell us something. He told us that he was going to be gone for awhile and that we were to continue our training with each other in the meantime. We asked him where he was going and he said, 'I'm going to hunt down the son of a bitch who spilled our blood and make an example out of him.' So with that, Qrow and I returned to our devices and trained, not daring to ask anymore questions. By that point, we had been training with him for eight and a half months since we had started our training in the month of October, the year prior. By the end of August, Shepherd had returned carrying a broken, bloodied man with glassy eyes who was too exhausted to even move. We thought it was a corpse until we saw that he was breathing… barely.

"Qrow and I were curious to know who the man was and we followed Shepherd without him knowing and he went to a spot outside the camp toward the back and we watched as Shepherd proceeded to tie the man to a tree. At that point we noticed the man's arms seemed disjointed and we realized that his shoulders were dislocated. Shepherd had popped the guy's shoulders out of place and tied him to the tree so that he couldn't reset them when he regained some strength. We asked Shepherd who the man was and he told us that he was the man who killed one of our own. He also told us that the man tied to the tree was also a huntsman. We asked what he would do with him and all Shepherd would say was that he would just check on him regularly. We didn't know what he meant until we would stop by daily as we simply just watched Shepherd check on him and walk away. There was always a watchman stationed in that area so we had to be very careful. As the man got thinner over time, it became clear as to what exactly was going on. Shepherd tied him to the tree and was just waiting for the man to starve to death.

"Qrow eventually stopped coming with me to check out Shepherd checking on the guy and would just shut me up when I would try to give him updates. Every day I stopped by, the thinner the man would get until he looked at a skeleton covered in skin. I literally watched a man starve to death. Qrow saw Shepherd in a very different light after then seeing a first-hand an example of the things he did when we weren't around as he tortured the man to death by starvation. He began to resent Shepherd after that although I wouldn't find that out until years later. He would start to resent the tribe even more as Shepherd started to bring us along for raids after we turned 16. As for me, going back to the man tied to the tree, though I was with him in how it was just plain cruel, I understood that at the end of the day, our survival and our well-being was Shepherd's biggest priority and he would do whatever it took to assure that regardless of what it was. I may not have agreed at first as I saw what he did as excessive, I still understood his reasoning. Regardless, at the end of the day, he killed one of our own and that wasn't something I wouldn't let go unpunished if I were in his shoes. When that huntsman killed one of us, it was an eye-opener to the whole tribe- especially Shepherd. It became transparent to us that huntsmen and huntresses were the most immediate threat to the survival and well-being of our tribe.

"Three years later, my brother and I having already turned 17 years old, Shepherd had Qrow and me enroll at a huntsman academy in order to learn more about them as well as their strengths and weaknesses so they would no longer be able to pose a threat to us and so that we would be ready and able to defend ourselves from them in case they ever came for us or if we ever ran into one. We originally tried to apply for Haven Academy since it was closer, but it was already past the deadline by a day, which meant we were no longer eligible to apply. So we ended up applying for and being accepted into Beacon instead, located in Vale, much farther away as it was on a different continent entirely. It would be the first time Qrow and I had ever set foot in a kingdom. Before we left, we said our goodbyes and Qrow and I had promised that we would return to the tribe after our time at Beacon was up."

"So what happened once you two got to Beacon?" I interrupt.

"Unfortunately, a vast majority of that information I cannot give to you under any circumstances. But there was a skirt incident with my brother and because of that, the nickname Shepherd gave him, 'Longshanks', would follow him throughout Beacon as well. Seeing him get annoyed over that did make for good entertainment on dull days. Also it was at Beacon that I would finally unlock my semblance. But anyway, aside from that one thing, we got put into a team known as Team Stark- spelled S-T-R-Q- and we were such a powerful group that we would get bumped up as second year students, completely skipping our first year. During our time, we would then eventually earn a… "job" of sorts that would pretty much stay with us, even after graduation.

"During our last year at Beacon, we were 19 at that point, Vale was hosting an event called the Vytal Festival. At this festival, there is a tournament that consists of teams representing their respected academies from all four kingdoms. Our team was a part of this tournament. During the tournament, we met a combatant from Haven Academy named Shiro Wan. My brother and Shiro became friends pretty quickly as they had very cohesive personalities. As for me, I could care less about him. But there was something about him that piqued my interest when Qrow confronted me about something. His body language and tone seemed almost distressed or distraught. Then Qrow told me.

"Remember that huntsman that Shepherd captured and beat into a bloody pulp and tied to the tree and left him to starve to death?"

"Yeah." I answer, letting her know that I've been listening.

"That was Shiro's father."

Hearing that honestly stunned me for a few seconds.

"Yeah. That was my reaction." She spoke up. "Shortly after that, Qrow started drinking. Apparently Shiro wanted to be a huntsman to both follow in his father's footsteps, but also to avenge his father. Which means Shepherd was on his chopping block. I'll admit hearing that made me want to kill Shiro on the spot, but I still had a mission to complete as well as Qrow. I couldn't do anything that would get me kicked out of Beacon or make me public enemy number one since I still had to finish up at Beacon so I could return to the tribe. So I brushed it off.

"As for the tournament, we continued our fight and I eventually won the whole thing for my team and Beacon on the last day of the tournament, October 31st. As for the celebration that night, let's just say it got out of hand pretty quickly. It was the first time I ever got a taste of alcohol… and I went overboard. We all did. Qrow did most of the drinking though. But as for me, I never drank again after that and mostly limit myself to tea now.

"Our graduation from Beacon happened about a month later in early December. The 9th to be exact. And it was on that day that my brother made it abundantly clear to me that he had no intentions of returning to the tribe and ended up abandoning us, breaking the promise we made after proceeding to call us nothing more than a bunch of low-life killers and thieves- almost similar to what you called us. As for me, I couldn't return to the tribe until the following year."

"Why?"

"Remember when I said the celebrating got out of hand?" Raven said as she was clearly leading me to an answer.

"Yeah…"

"I… ended up getting pregnant…" She said with a slight mutter, showing a bit of embarrassment in her demeanor.

"What?! So you're telling me you're basically married… with a kid?!" I exclaim as that completely caught me off guard.

"Yes. Her name is Yang. Speaking of which, she is probably about as old as you are right now, except maybe a bit older since she was born on July 4th, I believe. But that stays between you and me! Got it?" Raven's tone suddenly switched to stern and threatening. "If you tell anyone about that, you will regret it!"

"Yep, got it!" I say firmly with a nervous gulp. After the warning, Raven would continue her story.

"So, anyway,..." Raven says as her tone gets a bit somber. "...for that reason, I was out of commission for a while until I eventually returned to the tribe September 20th the following year. Despite the "job" we both had, I still kept my promise and returned to the tribe- even leaving behind my husband and daughter in the process shortly after she was born. I left as soon as I was able."

"How long ago was that?" I ask.

"Well by the time I returned to the tribe on the 20th of September, I had already turned 20. I turn 30 next year on February 21st, which is about two months from now. So it was about nine years and three months ago.

"Upon my return, I came expecting to see a hero's welcome due to my long absence. I was especially anticipating seeing Shepherd welcoming me back home with open arms. But he was nowhere to be seen. As I walked through the gates, everyone immediately looked over and gave me the warm welcome I was anticipating. But I could tell there was something off. They didn't treat me like I was returning hero or a long lost family member, but more like someone who was their saving grace or something of the sort. It left me very confused, but I still managed to quiet everyone down. After they were settled, I asked everyone where Shepherd was. No one responded. Everyone just uncomfortably shuffled or looked away. I kept asking and no one would answer. Quickly running out of patience, I grabbed the first person I saw by the collar and started questioning her. The first thing she did was tell me to follow her into Shepherd's tent. The second I entered his tent, I was stopped dead in my tracks as I was completely shocked after I saw his dead body wrapped in linen sitting in the middle of the tent. It took every bit of strength I had not to lose it once it started settling in and just quietly knelt by his body and sat there motionless, fighting back tears.

"At that moment, I was asking myself how he could have died and why. Shepherd was the strongest person I ever met and seeing him in this state left me in disbelief. I remember seeing a slip of paper lying near his body that had my name on it and I immediately picked it and read it. There wasn't a lot written as it was only five words: 'It had to be done…'. But those five words filled me with rage as I instantly figured it out. Fucking Qrow..." I see Raven clench her gloved fist as she recollected the memory. "And I'm pretty sure he most likely brought Shiro in on it as well since there is no way he'd be able to beat him on his own, even with his bad luck semblance. I know I couldn't have beaten him and me and Qrow are evenly matched in terms of skill and strength. In other words, if I couldn't have beaten Shepherd on my own, Qrow wouldn't have won on his own either.

"It most likely happened when I was pregnant as well since that was the most opportune time Qrow could have picked for his moment to strike since he knew I would have been there to stop him if it were any other time. And because I was pregnant, which he knew, and out of commission, there was nothing I could have done to prevent was consumed by his guilt of being a part of us and was desperate to make amends with the person whose father Shepherd killed- the same person who had killed one of us, I might add!. And because of that, he tossed away everything that Shepherd did for us. Qrow didn't just abandon us… he stabbed us in the back and betrayed us. Because of his guilt, he was desperate to make amends and now Shepherd's blood is on his hands and I will never forgive him for that! And I swear I will one day make him feel what it's like to be betrayed and stabbed in the back by his own family. He'll know one day how it feels to lose someone important to him. He'll get his sooner or later."

I noticed Raven looked very riled up as the simmering glow of the flames lit up her face. It would take a few moments for Raven to calm down and regain her composure.

"Anyway, it's been a long time since I've spoken with my brother, but we still sort of 'work together' under the same boss while not communicating with each other. However he would still carry the last name 'Branwen' as a way of maintaining his respect and thankfulness toward Shepherd for what he did for us when he rescued and took us in, which I call bullshit on. He just keeps the name simply out of guilt in my eyes.

"And as for the tribe, they were without a leader. So I took up the mantle and became the new leader of the Branwen tribe. My daughter had her father, but as for my people, they had no one. When I looked at them, I saw that they were lost and wouldn't have lasted long without any leadership. Don't get me wrong though, they can hold their own. But without a strong leader, they would have fallen eventually. These were the same people who, along with Shepherd, helped raise and take care of me and I wasn't going to let them fall. To everyone else, they are just murderers, pillagers, criminals, and low-lifes. But to me, they are my family… just as they were his."

As Raven said that last part, she picked up the mask and looked into its face longingly as if she were looking at someone that she sorely missed.

"I'm sorry, Ra-"

"Simin, do not give me your sympathy. That is the last thing I need or want. I don't want you to feel bad for me. I didn't tell you this story to gain sympathy points. I told you so that you know the person sitting next to you. So that you understand. Whether you agree with me at the end of the day or not, I don't really care. I know who I am and I am fully aware of the things I have done. I have committed horrible atrocities for the sake of the tribe. And I can strongly tell you that I am okay with it. I have no intentions on changing my ways for anyone if it means survival. I have so much blood on my hands. And despite all that, I don't feel a single morsel of regret. And do you know why? It's because I do it for them so they can survive. That includes Mari -although she is a different story altogether-, that includes Vernal, and that also, most certainly, includes you too."

"...oh…" I barely utter as I wasn't too sure how to respond.

There was a bit of silence after Raven told me this and during that silence, my fatigue was starting to overwhelm me. At this point, I'm barely able to keep my eyes open due to how late it was getting. I quickly started to get even more sleepy due to the lack of verbal activity between us and the because my body wouldn't allow me to stay awake any longer.

"Anyway, I think that's enough stories for tonight." Raven said abruptly. "Get some sleep, Simin. I'll watch over us for a bit."

Little did she know, I was already way ahead of her on that.

"O...kay. Goood niiiight, Raven." I mumbled with a slurred voice. And with that I simply could not stay awake anymore. My mind and body finally succumbed to the drowsiness as I faded out of consciousness, the last thing I see being the sleeve of Raven's coat as my sight faded to black.

. . .

*Raven's perspective*:

I don't know what Simin was mumbling just now, but I don't really care enough to press it. The kid needs sleep and the last thing I need is him being too exhausted to even stay awake in the morning. I think I'll go stoke the fire a bit more. I'll most likely be up for a little longer though as I still need to keep watch. As I am about to lean forward to stoke the fire with a stick laying near me, I suddenly felt something small and light lean against my left arm.

"...That better not be what I think it is."

I instinctively immediately turn my head toward the sudden pressure and, just as I thought, I see Simin, fast asleep... leaning on my arm.

(Sigh.)

...And now he's drooling on me. This kid's just going to end up distracting me.

Careful not to disturb him, I slowly and carefully pick up Simin's limp body and carry him to the lean-to shelter I made for us earlier. As I carry him, I can feel his torso slowly expanding and contracting with every breath he makes. As I placed him under the shelter and was about to go back to the fire, there was a loud pop from the burning wood as it spit out an ember accompanied with a distant wolf's howl in the background. As soon as that happened, I could hear a slight whimper come from Simin as his breathing became a bit shaky as well as his body slightly trembling.

"Is he cold or something? Or did the noise just startle him?"

I take off one of my gloves and place the back of my hand on his icy cheek. It's freezing. I let out another sigh.

"Dammit!" I thought. "Am I really about to do this?"

I quickly make up my mind and I remove my coat and place it on top of Simin to warm him up some more. I guess he ended up getting my jacket after all. He better not drool on it. The fire and thermal pads in my compressed winter pants should be enough to keep me warm for tonight anyway.

I make it back to the log by the now much smaller fire and take a seat as I take a look back at Simin who was soundly sleeping with my coat wrapped around him like a blanket.

"He looks so… helpless like that. Hm... I wonder if…-"

I then slowly draw my sword as it made a low, quiet clink and hold it in front of me and glance back at Simin again. I then make a slicing motion into the empty space in front of me, creating a slight whistle as it cut through the air, slicing open a portal into said space. I then look back at Simin once more and, lo and behold, there was a portal appearing right next to him- the same portal that I just cut right in front of me.

"Shit!" I exclaimed under my breath. "I shouldn't have let my guard down around him."

I then slide my sword back into the scabbard with a bit of frustration directed toward myself with my movements due to allowing myself to open up to him the way I did. Suddenly, as I put my weapon away, the burning wood let out another loud pop as it spat out more embers accompanied by another distant howl that sounded throughout the forest causing me to put my hand back on the hilt of my blade in response. I couldn't tell whether it was a beowolf or just a normal wolf. Most grimm can't survive in the extreme cold such as freezing or subzero temperatures, but I don't want to take chances. It's not close, but I should still be careful.

As the creature of darkness howled through the night, I could hear Simin whimpering again in his sleep as his breathing got a bit heavier as I turned and saw him pull my coat tighter around himself as his trembling grew a bit more tensed. His physical wounds may have healed, but I can tell his mental scars run very deep. I hope he'll be ready for tomorrow. He's going to have to be. Tomorrow, he's going to learn another very valuable, yet very cruel, lesson: the burden of survival.

**CHAPTER END**

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Hey, everyone!

So yeah... this was a long as hell chapter. I'm really sorry if it was boring. This is probably going to be the longest chapter in the entire volume and maybe even the hole series. I doubt any other chapter will be as long as this one. This chapter is most likely going to be a hit or a miss with the readers, so I'm a bit nervous as I'm taking a risk here with this very slow burn chapter.

Now my reasoning for doing such a slow burn for this chapter is actually for two reason:

1.) is because, Raven and Simin don't get that many casual moments like this where they just sit down and just chat, so there was a lot I wanted to do get in this chapter. They do get some one on one moments in later chapters like in chapter 15 and the third anthology chapter for example, but they are mostly Raven just trying to teach Simin a lesson rather than them just having a casual conversation (if that makes any sense). The only other time Raven and Simin have a moment like this is in chapter 20 when they're both sitting next to a tree exhausted after a big fight and are just having a somber conversation with each other.

2.) Is because I didn't want to rush Raven opening up to Simin and have it be too soon in the chapter since Raven is a very abrasive character, who most likely would not open up so easily. Because of that, I didn't want her to open up too soon. And since this was the first moment like this that Raven and Simin actually get to have with each other on top of the fact that this is the chapter we get Raven's backstory, I had Simin and Raven go over a lot of things with each other to essentially slowly ease Raven into warming up to Simin and open up to him, especially since one of the main goals (as well as the ultimate goal) of this chapter was for Raven and Simin to form a bond. For example, at the beginning of the chapter, Raven refuses to lend Simin her jacket, but at the end, she gives to him with the intent on keeping him warm. Also the part where Simin gives Raven his knife and Raven returns it and her hands feels slightly warmer, that was meant to be symbolic as to how Raven is starting to warm up to Simin and the tipping point is when Simin allows her to inspect his mother's knife. Anyway, I guess you could say I was trying to kill two birds with one stone.

That reminds me. Since I mentioned bonds in the previous paragraph, for those who do not know, in the actual series, Raven's semblance is the ability to slice portals to people she's formed bonds with. And since she's formed a bond with Simin in this chapter, she can now create portals to him.

Also, as we saw in this chapter, I did some more rewrites with aura. I hope I did a good job at explaining it. Also I basically teased in this chapter that I will be expanding on aura in the future and I will be doing my own things with it from that point on once I get to those new things with aura.

Also I don't know if I did a good job at implying it or if I was too vague, but I wanted to point out that Raven's helmet used to be Shepherd's helmet, which was why she was staring at it.

On another note, you have no idea how stressful it was for me to make Raven's backstory fit within my timeline of the series. I had to pull a lot of tricks (some sneaky and some obvious) to get this to work and fit. Funny story, back when I had posted chapter 4 earlier this year, chapter 13 was already written and when I was doing some proofreading, I noticed there was a slight discrepancy in the timeline and it almost completely wrecked it. Because of that, I had to do a major overhaul of the timeline and reorganize because originally I had my timeline in the form of a literal line with tick marks. Now I have it in the form a spreadsheet and makes it easier for me to keep track of things.

(SPOILERS FOR NEXT CHAPTER AND VOLUME 2!) In the next chapter, we're going to have a fight. And it is Raven's first fight in this volume. (Raven gets a total of 4 fights this volume and her third fight, which is in chapter 19, is my favorite). Raven is going to fight someone named Chatareus and she's going to kill him. Now the name Chatareus might sound very familiar to those who are familiar with Mark Zhang's SLVR, especially in relation to the character, Vella (a future member of SLVR). Well that's because that's also the name of Vella's weapon. So in other words, the next chapter is going to have heavy connections to Vella's backstory. Chatareus is Vella's older brother and when he gets killed, Vella will name her weapon after her brother (since it was originally her brother's weapon that she takes up). However, I should note that Vella does not physically appear this volume. Her first appearance will be in Volume 2 where she tries to avenge her brother by hunting down and picking a fight with Raven.

Anyway, I should also note that my semester is almost over, which means it's almost time for me to get back to my normal posting schedule. As always, I will post announcements and updates on my profile page at the bottom if anyone wants to stay up to date. I might take a small rest before working on chapter 14 though since this was a very draining chapter to work on and since I still need to revise chapter 20 as well.

And again, I am really sorry if this chapter was a drag to get through or was boring.

As always, feedback is welcomed (especially since this is a monster of a chapter so I'm sure I've made a few slip-ups in there) and I'm always happy to answer questions. Now I will leave you with fun fact #14:

Fun fact #14: Originally, I was going to give Shepherd a semblance, but at the last second, I decided to scrap it and repurpose it for a future character. The name of it was Time Lapse. I won't say exactly what it does yet, but we can probably guess from the name. Also, in the backstory, when Raven and Qrow get attacked by ursai, I was originally going to have it be my version of a wendigo grimm that I created. But I decided against it because it would have been lame to tease such a cool grimm only to just kill it immediately like fodder. I'm still going to use my version of the wendigo grimm, but it will be saved for Volume 2.


	15. Volume I: Chapter XIV: Collecting the Debt:

Volume I: Chapter XIV: Collecting the Debt:

"We're almost there, Simin…" Raven assured me, sounding a bit frustrated for some reason after I asked her how much more distance we had to cover until we reached our destination. "Just hang on a bit longer. I'd say we have about another hour of walking left."

"So Raven…" I speak, initiating conversation.

"What?! What is it now?" Raven said with much audible irritation as she was no longer in the mood to entertain my constant update requests.

"Why do you sound so annoyed?" I ask her with an oblivious tone.

"Why?" She said exasperatedly. "Maybe it's because you've been asking me the same goddamn question every ten minutes since we've started walking! 'How much longer, Raven?' 'How much longer until we get there, Raven?' How about this? We'll get there... when we get there! So stop asking me! Got it?"

As Raven let out her frustrations, I was left speechless for a few seconds as I wasn't aware I was annoying her. I mean I knew she was getting annoyed, but I didn't know I was the cause of it.

"...That's not even what I was going to ask this time…" I clarify with my voice a bit lowered as I was still feeling the initial shock from her snapping at me.

"Oh, well then what were you going to ask then?" Raven asks as she changes her tone, not even bothering to apologize once she realized her mistake. Though there was a bit of remorse in her voice, so I let it go.

"I know you won't tell me exactly who it is we're seeing or why, but could you at least tell me what it is we're going to do when we get there?"

"You'll find out when we get there." Raven answers my question while, again, simultaneously not answering my question just like she has with all my other questions regarding the topic.

"Raven, please just answer my question. Why are you being so vague?" I ask as worry and concern are now starting to enter my mind due to the anxiety that I have no idea what I'm getting into.

"You sound worried." She picked up as she easily read my tone.

"It's because I am…" I bluntly answered.

"What are you worried about? What's on your mind, Simin?" Raven asked, as she slowed our pace down a bit so she could turn more of her attention to me.

"Because I don't know what I'm getting myself into. And it's making me increasingly anxious that we're getting closer to whatever it is we're doing and I still know nothing. I can't help but feel I'm underprepared not knowing. I just want to know what's about to happen."

"Simin, what's about to happen is that I'm going to teach you a very important lesson- arguably the most important lesson in my book and probably the toughest one." Raven said, keeping it vague.

"Raven, why won't you just drop the vagueness and just tell me everything?" I plea.

As soon as I said that, Raven stopped dead in her tracks as she knelt down to eye level and said with a cold voice:

"Because if I did, you would refuse to take another step forward."

With that, she stood back up and turned around, but I was left standing there as that sentence echoed in my head. I then spoke up as she took a few steps back into the direction we were just heading in.

"Raven, I trust you with my life. But I want to keep trusting you." As soon as I said that Raven stopped again. "So please just tell me?"

Raven stood in place for a couple seconds and simply sighed as she turned back to me and she removed her mask, revealing her pale face, her nose slightly red from the cold, as she looked me in the eyes with her crimson red irises.

"The person we are seeing is a young man named Chatareus. I found out something recently regarding him and I need to pay him a visit."

"Judging from how you said that, it sounds like you're going to rough him up..." I say a bit nervously.

"Yes." Raven bluntly answered.

"So I take it he's pretty powerful or something, which is why I'm tagging along, right?"

"Oh don't worry. I won't need you until the end." Raven tells me to my slight relief of not wanting to get involved with brutalizing some innocent person. "I can handle him myself."

"So where do I factor in?" I ask, now wondering why I'm even here then.

"Once I have incapacitated Chatareus, I just need you take something from him…" She said with an avoidant coldness.

"That's it…?" I ask, a bit surprised as I was expecting more.

"Yes, that is it." She simply replies.

"If all I'm here for is to take something then why can't you just do it?" I question her logic.

"Because I need you to do it." She emphasizes as she puts her hand on my shoulder to further her point.

"I don't get it." I state, prompting for further explanation.

"You will soon..." Raven coldly responds. "Now come on…" Raven says as she stands and not very gently ushers me in front of her as we continue our walk as she places her mask back on.

"Is… is that everything, Raven?" I feel compelled to ask as I turn my head back slightly to look up at her.

"It's… the basic gist of it." She tells me a bit aloofly as she keeps her attention in front of her.

With that, we continued on and marched in silence as I spent the rest of the time contemplating to myself as to why she wants me here to do something she could easily do herself. I also couldn't help but shake this feeling of uneasiness the entire rest of the way as well despite her telling me. Those words Raven told me yesterday when we were about to head off echoed in my head again: 'There's no point in getting acquainted with the dead.' I can't help but feel there's a connection between those words and where we're going.

In about an hour or so, just like she said, we eventually reached our destination. As we came near a clearing, the snow would begin to shrink in level as it slowly went from knee high for me to about just below ankle height. I could see through the treeline that there was a small hill that seemed to flatten a bit toward the top as the snow thinned out, the little green tips of the grass poking their way out the surface. Sitting atop the hill was a lonely small house that looked more like a large dilapidated shack than anything given its rickety appearance. Just behind the house was a decently sized field that seemed to be used for growing crops to live off of. Judging from where I'm standing, it might be used for growing corn… but that's just a guess.

"Now Simin…" Raven spoke as she crouched down to me with her mask held to her hip. "I want you to stay put. I don't want you leaving this spot under any circumstances. Unless I specifically call for you, I expect you to stay here. Do I make myself clear?"

"I understand." I answer her.

"Now repeat what I just said." She says, making sure I was listening.

"You want me to stay in this spot and not leave it under any circumstances unless you specifically call for me."

"Good." Raven then stands up to her feet as she proceeds to remove her jacket and hold it out. "Here, hold this for me." She requested of me as I hesitated to grab it.

"I thought you said you wouldn't let me have it." I mention, referring to yesterday when she shut me down for alluding to wanting to wear her jacket.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Simin. I'm not giving it to you so you can stay warm. The jacket just restricts my movement and I have nowhere to leave it except with you." Raven clarified.

"Oh." I say a bit disappointed by her reason. "Can I still put it on though?" I ask, hopeful that she'll acquiesce.

"It's not like I'll be here to stop you." Raven says in a sort of indifferent tone.

"I'll take that as a yes!" I thought.

"Now I'll say this one more time: stay put until I call you. Okay?" Raven said as she put her mask back on with a stern, but hushed voice.

I nod in response, hearing her message loud and clear as Raven stepped out into the open and climbed halfway up the slightly snow-covered hill.

. . .

*Raven's perspective*

While I leave Simin to his own devices as he's probably already putting my jacket on the moment I stepped out, I head up the hill and stop as soon as I reached the halfway mark and just stood there motionless for a couple seconds before I decided to call out to him.

"Chatareus!" I shouted loud enough to create an echo that repeated itself a couple times.

After about thirty seconds or so passed as I heard what sounded like a lot of movement in there, the old, beat-up door to the shack opened with a creak and out came the young man, whose name I had just called. He's 17 years old and is a little taller than me as he stood at about 5'10 (1.78 meters) or somewhere close to it as he also had a bit of a thin frame. Although I'm partially to blame for that considering I've been shaking him down for a portion of his crops for a little over three years as I've been paying him occasional visits. The pale boy had unkempt viridian green hair and tired eyes as he looked at me, attempting to put on a straight face to hide his nervousness. However, he didn't put up the front too well as I could feel a nervous vibe from him as he knows what usually happens when I come here… although this is the first time I've come in Winter, which he must not have been expecting and has put him more on edge.

He also wore blue, stitched up pants that were so dirty, you could barely even tell they were blue until you got a closer look at them. For his upper body, he simply wore an ocean blue tunic with a brown leather strap around it. I could also see a bit of what looked like a gray, metal object poking out from his back. He's armed this time. That's new. I guess coming at such an unusual period really did put him on edge.

"What took you so long? You should know better than that. I know you at least heard me." I spoke so he could hear me.

There was no wind blowing by or any other natural noises, so there was a bit of a faint echo with my words.

"What do you want, Raven? Why are you here?" Chatareus spoke with a tired voice. I could sense a bit of apprehension and defensiveness in it as well.

"You should know why I'm here, Chatareus." I answer him bluntly.

"Well I'm sorry, but I don't. If you're here for the corn, I should remind you you already shook me down for it at the turn of Septem-"

"I didn't forget. No need to remind me." I cut him off. "That's not what I'm here for anyway. In fact, I'm actually here for something else of yours."

Just then the kid raised his hand slightly as he tried to make a subtle move to put his hand on his weapon to get ready.

"And what would that be?" He replied as his voice now had a heavy tone to it.

"Why so nervous, boy?" I taunt him. "You're not in any danger… not yet at least."

"Raven, what are you here for?" His voice shook.

"You sound scared." I speak up.

Chatareus didn't say anything that time as he only placed his hand on the object and tightly gripped it. It's almost like he's trying to threaten me.

"You know Chatareus…" I speak up again, my voice maintaining its initial tone. "... you made the biggest mistake of your life when you decided to apply. And now it's going to cost you dearly… and I'm here to 'collect the debt.'"

As soon as I said that, Chatareus had a look of shock, fear, or surprise (or all of the above) on his face as if he had just been found out as he quickly pulled out the grey, rectangular object sitting on his back and it unfolded into a strange-looking bow with blades on the top and bottom and what looked like a firearm of sort peering down the center.

"Are you shocked?" I ask him. "Did you think I wouldn't know?"

"H-how did you-"

"Because, Chatareus,..." I interrupt him again. "...you're predictable. I had a feeling you'd try something like this once you got to around this age. So I decided to make a quick flight to Mistral, more specifically to Haven academy. All I had to do was wait for Leo to head home and break into his office and get my hands on the roster of accepted applicants, and lo and behold, your name was among them. You'll be surprised by how I get around. It makes gathering information a lot easier."

"Raven you don't have to do this." He begged, trying to avoid his death.

"And that's where you're wrong. I do have to do this. This isn't personal, Chatareus. It's survival. And sometimes survival means playing it safe by eliminating potential threats. And because of what you did, I now see you as a potential threat. Maybe not now, but sometime in the future."

"Raven, just hear me out-" He spoke frantically.

I simply ignored him as I put my hand on my hilt and drew my sword as I took a step toward him.

"What if I joined your tribe?" He blurted out.

"Excuse me?" I scoff.

That honestly surprised me a bit. But I highly suspect he's bluffing. It's just a desperate ploy to try and get out of the situation or get me to lower my guard. He's not a sellout. After all, I killed his father over a year ago last February, so I know there is no way on Remnant he'd join me, even if he was held at gunpoint. But I'll play his little game and turn it on him.

"What if... I joined your tribe?" He repeated, this time uttering it.

He couldn't even look me in the eyes as he said that.

"I'm listening…" I tell him as I play along.

"You let me join your tribe, and in exchange, you let me live. I could be a useful asset for you. Just think about it. The fact I was good enough to get in to the academy shows the potential that I have. If you were to let me join in exchange for letting me live, I could pull my own weight and help the tribe in any way possible."

"And how do I know you're not just planning to stab me in the back the moment I lower my guard?" I feign my skepticism to continue to play along, otherwise he'd get suspicious that I'm onto him if I relent too easily.

"Because I don't plan on dying today."

I let out a slight chuckle to myself out of slight amusement. I actually liked that answer. But still, it won't change anything.

"You know, you make a pretty good point, Chatareus." I lead him on as I now sheath my weapon to get him to relax and think I've fallen for the trick. "And it would be a shame to just let your potential get snuffed out like that. I could make good use of you. So you know what, I'd like to thank you for suggesting such an alternative for me. You've made things easier for me. So you can join my tribe. All you have to do now… is take my hand."

I then hold out my hand for Chatereus to come and take it as I slightly shift the position of my feet. But little does he know, the way I'm standing now is actually a subtle fighting stance as I'm preparing for him to try and attack me off guard so I can counter.

Chatareus then glanced back at the house and proceeded to nod to himself as if he was accepting what he's about to do- or at least what I suspect him to do. The kid's probably feeling sentimental or something as he knows this will likely be the last time he'll ever see his home as a living being. He then turned to face me again and lowered his weapon and slowly walked toward me as the weapon sat in his right hand. But I could see that there was caution in his steps. A clear sign he is picking his moment and angle to try and strike. I could also tell from his positioning that he is going to attack me by bringing the weapon up and will either try to shoot me point blank or try to hit me in the head with the blade. The weapon itself does look like it could make a few dents so I'll be a bit careful regarding that factor.

As Chatareus appeared to be taking my hand, his weapon suddenly took a smaller form that resembled a rifle with the bladed parts of the bow turning into a curved guard at the bottom of the barrel as he quickly raised it and attempted to blow my head off, point blank, just like I predicted. I quickly dodged it by ducking and leaning to the side and launched the hilt of her sword into his gut to knock him back a little and wind him so I could get an opening to deal a devastating blow. I then attempted a slash as I drew my sword as he got knocked back, but the kid blocked it as his weapon took the hit as he turned it back into its bow form. The kid's a bit fast than I thought. We moved so quickly it almost felt simultaneous.

Chatareus got knocked back by quite a bit that I had to raise my voice a bit so he could hear me.

"You know you can't beat me." I delivered him the brutal fact.

"I can try." The boy stated, with trepidation in his voice.

"Then I guess it's time for you to face the consequences." I tell him.

"Speak for yourself, Raven." He challenged, not backing down despite his almost nonexistent chances. I can't help but respect that.

But still, he's brought this on himself. I had a feeling he'd try this someday.

Chatareus and I stood apart from each other, endlessly waiting to see who would make the next move. He's clearly waiting for me to make the first move and adopting a defensive strategy from how it looks. I guess I have no choice but to give him what he wants.

To kick the fight off, I decided to go for a straightforward attack as I rush straight up to him with my sword in hand. I, still holding my sword, rush him and make an upward motion when swinging as an attempt to cleave him in two. Just as I expected, he leapt over me and tried to fire another round straight down at me. I used my sword and kept following through with the upward motion and brought it around over me, deflecting the bullet instead as it headed down. I still kept following with the motion of the swing, and brought it down as I turned around, hoping to get him this time as he landed behind me. Unfortunately, he saw it coming and managed to parry my blade to his left side at the last second while lodging the bottom part of his bow into the ground, essentially creating a barrier between him and my blade on that side as his barrel pointed straight at my leg.

I should try to boot him before he tries anything, but I know that he'll shoot before I can do that. So instead, not even a second after he's blocked my follow up strike, he attempts another shot directly at my knee hoping to immobilize me and I quickly spin out of the way and bring my sword around to his open side to try and decapitate him from behind. But the recoil of his shot dislodged his bow from the ground as he used the momentum to quickly whip it behind him on his right side as he turned it back into its rifle form midway, blocking another attempted blow with the guard. He attempts to pull the trigger again, but I boot him this time before he takes another shot as I had a big enough window that time.

This kid isn't half bad if I'm being honest. I'll give him that. He has pretty decent defensive and counter offensive skills. But it's only a matter of time until he's done for when he cracks under his own pressure. He knows he can't beat me in a long drawn out fight, so he wants to try to end it quickly before I can even do anything as his best bet, hence why he's making full use of his defensive abilities and counterattacks.

Ultimately, his lack of combat experience compared to mine will be his downfall. I can literally just let him wear himself out. The longer this fight lasts, the more his stress will increase, which means the more frantic his attacks will become as the reality of the scenario begins to set in, leading to sloppiness and creating more openings as he tries to deal a heavy blow to me. It's only a matter of time until he gives me that opening I need as he rushes to finish this fight and tires himself out. In other words, I don't even have to try hard. I'm not going to waste too much energy here. So in the meantime, I'll just try to pace him until he trips up.

Also judging from how he uses his weapon, when up close, he seems to use his bow for defense, but switches to his rifle when he attempts a blow. Granted this is only based on the fact he's only used the bow when blocking so far, in the first few seconds of this fight so I could be wrong. He must not have enough confidence to be able to land a hit on someone like me. Which means if he brings it out, it is most likely going to be a diversion or defensive tactic. Let's see if I can put that theory to the test.

Chatareus and I rush each other and I attempt a horizontal slice to his upper midsection. As I closed the distance he slid right under, leaning back to avoid the blade. But instead of putting the bow back like I anticipated, he tried to sweep my legs with it. I didn't have any time to avoid it so I just had to let the sweep hit me so I could prepare for his follow up.

I fall forward with sword in hand, but for the split second, I was completely off the ground, I twisted my body 180 degrees so that I was now facing the sky and held my sword in front of me to block the anticipated follow up strike. No more than a split second later, I see the bladed part of his bow come down on me and hit my sword head on. I used this blow as momentum for me to flip my body backward and plant my free hand down so I don't land on my neck and spring backward to dodge his second follow up, which was an upward slash with the bottom part of the bow. He briefly let his entire right side open because of this and I take advantage of the opening and cleave him, sending him flying a few yards.

Before he even hits the ground, I dart up to him again and slam into the ground with another blow. As I am about to plunge the tip of my blade into his heart, he parries it with his bow as he turned it back into a rifle. In less than a second later, with my blade now stuck in the ground, he brings up his legs and kips up, knocking my hand off my weapon and slightly moving me back. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little impressed with this kid. It's a shame I have to kill him.

Immediately after landing on his feet, he brings the bladed part of his rifle around and tries to swing for my head. I lean back and leap backward to gain some distance between him and me to see what he'll do next as I am now about 10-15 yards (9.1-13.7 meters) away from him and my weapon. Surprisingly, he hadn't rushed me for another follow up or made any movements to get closer to me at all for that matter as I leapt away. I expected him to try and rush me and attempt multiple shots, but it looks like he's more concerned with me getting my weapon back, which means he's guarding it and goading me to come back in and open myself up. Not too bad of a strategy, I'll admit. He knows better. That means he will most likely attempt and rely on ranged shots to keep me at bay or even beat me. But he's in way over his head right now. The fight's not over yet. So if he's daring me to come closer, I'll do just that.

Chatareus pulls the trigger of his weapon as the bullet hurtles toward and I swiftly sidestep the shot and rocket up to him right before he had time to do it again. He didn't even have time to give a facial reaction as I palm struck him in the face, slamming the back of his head into the hilt of my sword that was still lodged in the ground behind him. He then tried something clever by rolling the rest of his body with the blow, practically backflipping with it as he took advantage of the momentum to try and recover. I'm not worried though. The blow combined with the impact of his head hitting the hilt should have a major effect on him now.

Before he landed on his feet, though he was very visibly shaken by what I just did, I quickly grip the hilt of my sword and kick it out of the ground hard enough that it whipped in a way that the blade was heading straight for his head as he landed. He barely noticed it in his slightly groggy state and immediately brought his weapon above his head to guard it. As he took the bait, I then pulled back right before it made contact and very swiftly brought it to his body, taking advantage at his temporary slow reaction time and hitting him with a flurry of blows while he was still stunned and unable to even defend himself.

He should be almost out of aura at this point. As I finish with my attack, he bounces back up, not allowing any time for either of us to recover, and immediately rushes me, making multiple futile attempts to slash me.

As I predicted, his attacks are now poorly coordinated and sloppy, not to mention that he is out of breath after I dealt that flurry of heavy blows to him. Now he's getting desperate and this is his last gasp. I casually block or dodge them as he slowly wears himself out with his flurry of strikes as he goes all offense and tosses all his defense out the window with every blow getting more and more labored than the last. Almost out of breath, he attempts a strike toward the right of my face and I duck to the side a bit as the bladed part of the rifle glosses past me.

In response, I quickly grabbed Chatareus' wrist while he held his weapon and flipped my sword so the hilt was facing his arm. He may still have his aura up, but that shouldn't make a difference with what I'm about to do. I bring up the hilt to the middle of his arm and hit it with such force that I could hear a clearly audible pop as I dislocated his elbow to disarm him, causing him to immediately drop his weapon as his left arm went limp, accompanied by a loud yelp as he hunched over and held it in pain.

"Agh! You bi- agh!"

I cut him off as I hit him in the temple with the hilt of my weapon knocking him off his feet. As he tried to get up, I flipped my sword back around and hit him with a final heavy slash, knocking him back and sending him not too far from the bottom of the hill. As I did this, I noticed his aura, which had a viridian color to it, fizzle and fade around him upon my blade making contact with him. Looks like I took out his aura.

"It didn't have to be this way, you know." I coldly tell him as I give him another slash, causing him to scream in pain as a large gash made an appearance on him as his clothes started to turn red. In all honesty, I don't exactly enjoy this nor do I want to do this, but if I feel I need to brutalize this kid in order to ensure the safety of my tribe, then by all means that is what I will do without hesitation.

I suddenly then hear a sort of pop and a yelp from Chatareus as I look over to see that he's popped his elbow back into place as he was trying to pull himself back up.

"What do you think you're doing?" I ask him as he tries to get back up and make a move for his weapon, with a look of determination, blood pouring from his mouth with some dirt covering his face.

I then kick him back down right in the gash on his chest to ensure he didn't try to get back up again before he fully got back to his feet as he falls back down with a pained groan.

"Stay down. It's over now." I order. "In fact, this fight was over long before it even started. But before you go, Chatareus, I will leave you with this message: When you live in a world where the strong survive, it isn't the weak who die first. It's the stupid. Maybe if you had just been smarter and thought about the consequences of your actions, you wouldn't be on the ground about to die."

"I… w-wont…. let you…. k-kill me." Chatareus struggled to say through his agony and the blood welling up in his throat.

"Defiant to the end. I respect that. You have grit, kid, and I like that about you. You didn't try to run or cower and even in this state, you won't even beg me to spare you. You stood your ground and fought to the end. It's a shame you have to die today..."

Anyway, I think I should go call for the kid now. It's time for him to do what I brought him here for. He'll probably hate me for a while, but it's important that he learns this lesson.

I put my hand in the air and look back to where I told Simin to stay and gestured for him to come out.

. . .

*Simin's perspective*:

"That was… uncomfortable to watch." I mentally commented. "He didn't stand a chance. Not only was he not able to land a single hit, but Raven was pretty much in control of the whole thing, if not most of it at the very least. He looks really messed up lying there in a pool of his own blood. The guy barely lasted even a minute."

"SIMIN!" I hear Raven call me as her voice echoed among the snowy landscape.

I immediately shake those thoughts out of my head as my train of thought was halted and I remove Raven's very soft and comfortable jacket (mainly because I didn't want her to yell at me for wearing it) and step out from where I was told to stay as I then make my way toward Raven and the bleeding out Chatareus.

"Hurry up and get over here!" Raven yells as she removes her helmet and holds it to her side.

I then quicken my pace to a jog and rush over to the two. As I got closer, I looked down at Chatareus' wound and I started to feel a bit of sickness at the sight of red chasm in his body.

"Is… is he-"

"I didn't kill him. He's still alive." Raven says, cutting me off and taking her jacket back.

"Okay. So what am I taking then?" I ask Raven nervously.

"Are your weapons loaded?" She calmly asks me.

I sheepishly nod my head as the feeling in the air instantly felt heavier to me. Raven then holds out her hand and I give one of them to her as she opens the chamber to make sure as the nod must not have been very convincing and then she hands it back. Just as I was about to put it away, Raven stops me

"No, don't put your weapon away, Simin. Keep it out. I want you to take his life."

"...W-what...?" I muttered as I could hardly believe what I'm hearing as it echoed in my head as I just felt myself mentally take a few steps back.

At that moment, it finally clicked. That's why she's been so avoidant whenever I would ask her questions regarding this! That's what she meant when she said I'd be taking something of his! If I had known beforehand I was coming here to kill someone, I'd have refused to come with her.

"You heard me, Simin." Raven repeated her order.

"B-but w-what did...-" I say fumbling over my words. "What did he ever do to us?"

"Nothing." Raven replied coldly.

"Then why does he have to die?" I stall as I was trying to find any excuse to get out of this.

"Because he is a potential threat, Simin. It's not what he's done. It's what he can and might do."

"W-what do you mean?" I continue to delay.

"You'll find out after you've killed him." She says, growing more irritated.

"But Raven-"

"Simin, I am not going to entertain this any longer. I will only tell you once. Pull. The damn. Trigger. Now." She said adopting a colder and more serious tone as her patience wore thin.

I really can't get out of this, can I?

As I slowly turn toward him and shakily aim my weapon, I couldn't help but look into Chatareus' glassy eyes as they stared into mine. Just then, the images of the six bandits I killed started flashing through my head. It was literally sickening to think about. And then I thought of Mari's words during our talk:

"'What's done is done. You can't change what you did in the past. So instead of lingering in it, learn from it. Grow from it. Don't let it control you and don't let it define who you are. The person you are today and the person you will be tomorrow doesn't have to be the same person you were yesterday. Don't let the person you were yesterday hold back the person you are today or you end up hurting the person you will be tomorrow. Don't let your past become your anchor. Yes, Simin, what you've done is something that can never be undone as there is no going back from it. But you still have your humanity. You have the power to let it stop there and leave it behind and move forward. I know it. But what matters is do you think you have what it takes to move on and grow?'"

"There might be no going back for me if I pull the trigger and kill this guy." I then think to myself as I feel a wave of anxiety come over me. "What would Mari think? Would she hate me forever if she found out I killed again… especially an innocent person such as this? I can't do this!"

"I- I can't, Raven! I can't do it! I can't kill him!" I plead as I shut my eyes.

This visibly irritated the bandit leader.

"Dammit, Simin!" She turned to me, taking her eyes off Chatareus for a second. "With every seco-"

In that second that Raven directed her attention to me, Chatareus took his opening and kicked my weapon out my hand, causing it to fire above his head, and swiftly caught it with his uninjured arm as he ignored the pain that must have been coursing through his body. He immediately attempted to shoot Raven before she could do anything by firing five more shots at her, but Raven blocked and shoved me away from the area of danger as she was doing so before attempting to deal a crippling blow to him.

But Chatareus, through his actions, revealed what he was really trying to do. He wasn't trying to keep the fight going. He knew he couldn't win. He was instead looking for an escape.. through me.

After Raven had shoved me out the way and took the time to block the bullets, her attempted blow to Chatareus narrowly missed as he instantly rushed toward me while I was getting up and pulling out my other sai to defend myself. As soon as I was back on my feet, he was already on me as he skillfully disarmed me and fired another five shots rapidly at Raven to keep her at bay for a moment longer as she was about to make a move to reach him. As Raven blocked the bullets fired from my weapon, he took the time to effectively restrain me while also holding me by the neck so that I couldn't even make a noise and holding the smoking barrel to my head.

But there was something off with his actions. I noticed as he ran up to me, he purposely put the safety of my weapon on before he held it to my head. Not to mention how he was holding me, he was firm, but I was still clearly able to breathe. He only applied enough pressure so that I wouldn't be able to make much noise without straining. It's a bluff! Which is why he's trying to make it so that I can't make a noise, otherwise it'll run the risk of me notifying Raven.

"Raven..." He said, his voice shaking as he was clearly desperate and still in a lot of pain. "I don't want to do this, but you've pushed me this far. If you don't leave… for good, then I'll have no choice but to kill him."

He sounded like he meant it, but I could feel his hand tremble a little as he held the barrel against me.

Raven didn't say anything as she stood there, her expression turning into one of slight shock from the sudden quick event that had just occurred and pure anger, though I couldn't tell if that was more toward me for refusing to comply or Chatareus for essentially taking me hostage. What Raven ended up doing was simply raise her sword as she slightly angled her body as it looked like she was preparing for something.

"Is she planning to just rush him?" I assumed in my head.

"I mean it, dammit! Get out of here or he's dead!" Chatareus threatened, the fear revealing itself with every syllable that escaped through his bloody lips.

Ultimately, what Raven did with her sword was something that genuinely surprised and bewildered the both of us. As the crimson-eyed woman lifted the blade, she made a slash behind her and a strange red and black rift opened up in the space where she glided her weapon. It was like she created a portal in thin air and the sight of seeing it created left me too confused to even think.

I could feel his body tense up a bit and freeze in place as he was very nervous as to what Raven was planning. As Chatareus stayed where he was, Raven kept his eyes on him as she thrust the sword through and swung it downward. Upon that happening, I heard a thump beside me accompanied by an agonizing scream as I felt him release me as something wet and thick got on my arm.

As soon as he released me, I step away a bit and see that my arm has bits of blood on it and I turn around as I am greeted by a grisly sight. As I turn, I see Chatareus fall to his knees as he was now missing an arm, which was lying beside him, my weapon still in its bloody hand. Just behind him, I spot the same rift that Raven had created with the end of her sword poking through with blood now dripping from the already crimson blade. No more than a couple seconds later, Raven herself then steps out through the portal as well, still gripping the weapon.

I was still having trouble processing what just happened. I had never seen anything like this before. Is this that "semblance" thing Raven talked about? Is this her semblance? I sat there dumbfounded by what just occurred until I was snapped back into reality as the portal behind her vanished as it closed.

As he managed to quiet his screams, the last thing Chatareus would do was slowly look up past me and at the dilapidated house on the hill he had walked out of a few minutes ago before meeting his imminent demise. Then, he quietly muttered under his breath his last words:

"I'm sorry, Vella…"

As soon as he said that, Raven raised her sword one last time and brought it down on Chatareus' head and decapitated him as his body fell to the ground in front of me, the white snow now cloaked in his blood.

**CHAPTER END**

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Hey everyone!

I'm really sorry for this one being late. I spotted a plot hole during my last day of editing, so I worked on the chapter some more for a few extra days to patch it up.

Anyway, let's start off by talking about one of the major things in this chapter:

I think it's pretty obvious that this chapter has a direct tie to future SLVR team member, Vella Moisia. In this chapter, we basically just witnessed a very major moment in Vella's backstory. I should still let everyone know that we will not be officially meeting Vella until next volume, so she will not be appearing next chapter. She only really gets mentioned by name and makes a brief "cameo" via a kid's drawing since Vella has just turned 8 at this time. Now as for who Chatareus is, he's Vella's older brother.

Also, as to why she wanted Simin to specifically kill Chatareus, that will also get revealed next chapter as well. But if there's one thing that we all know already, it's going to be pretty awkward when Simin eventually meets Vella in the next volume and finds out she's the little sister of the guy Raven tried to make him murder. And it's going to be even more awkward when Vella finds out Simin was there for her brother's murder and was part of Raven's tribe. Although that won't happen until much later. But regardless, I hope I can make that interesting when we get to it.

Now let's talk about the fight:

Raven vs Chatareus was easily my least favorite fight scene to write and it's mainly because I struggled with it when writing it for the first time and it took me about a week to choreograph and write the whole thing. The reason why I struggled with this fight is because it hadn't dawned on me until I first started writing this scene that this is the first real deal fight scene between two skilled fighters, which meant I was going to have to step it up with this one, so I felt a bit out of my element and awkward with this one as I had to think of some new things and get a bit creative. Because of that, this fight scene feels a little clunky to me and a little slow paced for a fight that was supposed to last almost a minute. Funny thing is the fight was supposed to be even shorter in the original at 30 seconds.

The other reason why I felt I struggled also had to do with the fact I wanted the fight scene to be accurate as to how Raven's style is. And since she literally has only one fight scene in RWBY, there wasn't much to go on, so I rewatched Raven vs Cinder multiple times to try and figure out and replicate her fighting style. I also had to rewatch the Viridian trailer multiple times as well (sometimes in slow motion) so I could get a feel for [what will soon be] Vella's weapon and how it works. I'm not sure I have a good feel for it yet, but that's just something I'm going to have to toy around with more to get used to it.

Going back to Raven, I think a get a better feel for her fighting style in the future chapters and I think you'll like the next full fight scene more. Her next full fight scene is in chapter 16, which I had a lot of fun writing as that one is Raven in a 2v1 training session and she uses her portals in the fight, so I got to some creative things with how she utilizes her portals in combat.

I wanted this fight overall to feel very one-sided and have Raven absolutely dominate and be mostly in control of it. I hope I did a good job on that. One of the main purposes of the fight scene itself was meant to show how skilled and experienced Raven is as she picks apart a [soon to be] huntsmen academy student throughout the duration of the fight and quickly beats him in about a minute with almost no struggle. I guess you could also say that pretty much means this chapter also serves to show the power gap between someone at pro huntsmen level vs someone at barely a student huntsmen level.

The other purpose was to show to Simin Raven's brutal and ruthless side. And the last purpose this fight was supposed to serve was be a major moment in Vella's backstory as her brother's death will give her a motivation as to what she'll try to do in the next volume when we do meet her.

Anyway, it's going to be a while until we see Raven actually trying in a fight scene. So I would say in regards to fight scenes, a chapter to look forward to is chapter 19 as there will be a huge fight scene. The fights scene will last throughout almost the whole chapter, and it is an extremely close fight between Raven and her opponent. I won't say who she'll be fighting yet, but I will give a hint: It's not Simin.

Now with all that said, Act 4 is almost over. That means after chapter 15, we will have just the "anthology chapters" and Act 5, which is chapters 16-20. When I do eventually start posting the "anthology chapters", I plan on posting them throughout the week of rather than how I do my normal chapters, which means after chapter 15, it will be a little while until the next chapters are out. Anyway, I'm done rambling. Here's the next fun fact.

Fun fact #15: Originally, I was going to have Chatareus' name be Apollo. The reason I changed it to Chatareus is because Vella's weapon in the SLVR shorts is named Chatareus and I wanted to add some heavy significance to the name of Vella's weapon and I liked the idea of Vella naming her weapon after her deceased brother. Another fun fact is this chapter takes place on Vella's birthday, December 29th. The reason I made Vella's birthday December 29th is because that is the day the Viridian trailer was posted.


	16. Volume I: Chapter XV: Clashing Tides:

"She...she killed him…" These were the first words to enter my head moments after Chatareus' body hit the snowy soil. "She just sliced his head off right in front of me... as if I weren't even standing there just then to see it all…"

I could feel my heart begin to pound at the sight of his body as the snow around him grew redder and redder with every second that passed. I wanted to look away, but I felt almost frozen as the sight sent me back to the day I first met Raven. It wasn't until I heard the sound of crunching snow and saw Raven's shadow overtake me as she stood in front of me to block the view that I was somewhat brought back to reality.

"Did he hurt you?" She spoke with monotony.

"Wh-what…?" I stammer as I quickly blink twice to fully return myself to the real world.

"I said did he hurt you?" Raven repeated.

"N-no…" I answered with a hollow tone as I shook my head.

"Good… Now next time when I say to 'pull the trigger', YOU PULL THE DAMN TRIGGER!"

Raven's sudden outburst had startled me as this was the first time I had ever heard her yell at me. Raven's voice raised without warning loud enough you could hear the echo at least three times, the voice getting fainter as it traveled. I involuntarily winced in response due to getting startled as I was anticipating a disciplinary backhand to the cheek or a boot to the gut or something. I didn't even know she could get this angry. I've always seen her calm, cool, and collected, so this is a side I've never seen before. I really pissed her off this time.

As I anticipated Raven to deal me a heavy blow, I almost instinctively activated my aura as I was waiting for her to hit me. But to my surprise, she never did. Instead, all I felt was pressure on my shoulder. I could feel Raven squeezing my shoulder, but it didn't feel like she was trying to hurt me, but rather she was being firm and trying to get through to me.

"Look at me." Raven commanded, her voice back to it's normal tone, but retaining the forcefulness and authority.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked back up as her expression seemed slightly irritated as if she was in the process of cooling down.

"Why couldn't you do it? Why did you hesitate?" She asked quietly as if we were having a private conversation she didn't want anyone else to hear.

I struggled to speak up as I felt a little choked up due to the combination of being told to murder someone, having that person get decapitated in front of me, getting yelled at for not going through with the murder, and now suddenly being talked to like a parent trying to understand their kid- all in a span of at least five minutes. And being pinned under Raven's gaze wasn't helping either as it felt like her eyes were trying to burrow into my head and into my subconsciousness to find the answer herself.

"Simin, I am a bit irritated right now. So do us both a favor and answer the question. I will take literally anything over silence. Just give me something- anything." Raven said in what felt more like a demanding plea to speak rather than an encouragement.

"I… I couldn't kill him, okay?" I mutter. "I just couldn't."

"Well he was more than willing to kill you to get out of the situation he was in, in case you didn't notice." Raven responded as there was a slight hint of concern entering her voice as she recalled what had just occurred. "And the moment he put his hands on you, I decided to kill him myself. Do you now realize why you don't hesitate? The moment… the moment you hesitated… you gave him a window. And he immediately took advantage of the opening that was given to him. He could have killed you or severely injured you, you know that? That situation could have very easily gone differently."

"He- he wasn't going to kill me." I speak up a bit to clarify to her. "It was a bluff. He put the safety on before he grabbed me."

"You don't get it, Simin!" Raven raised her voice a bit as well with her response. "That's not the point I'm getting at and what you said doesn't take away from it. I don't care whether he was bluffing or not. It doesn't change the overall scenario of what happened. People can be most dangerous and unpredictable when they are backed into a corner and he didn't have to do that. As I just said, it could have very easily gone differently. But back to my point, you shouldn't have given him the chance. You should have finished it."

"Raven, I just don't understand how you can just tell me to kill someone on the spot- especially for no reason to someone who's done nothing to me- and expect me to go through with it." I challenge her.

"You say that as if you haven't done it before." Raven snapped back as she let go of my shoulder and stood up. "Should I remind you of what you did this past September? You better not have forgotten about that. I know I didn't because Mari and I had to bury them!"

Raven then stopped for a moment to reel herself back as she noticed she was growing angry thinking about what I did.

"And besides,..." She lowers her tone a bit. "I wasn't asking you to do it for no reason. There are two reasons why we came here, Simin. The first was to ensure the safety of the tribe."

"How is coming out here to kill some random teenager ensuring the safety of the tribe!? I don't understand." I ask her with an exasperated tone, completely vexed by the logic.

"I'm glad you asked." She answered without hesitation as she already knew what she was going to say the moment I gave her my question. "Remember last night when I said that huntsmen and huntresses were the biggest threat to the tribe?"

"Y-yes…" I quietly answer with a bit of nervousness as I could feel a bit of a pit begin to grow in my stomach.

"Chatareus here was planning on becoming a huntsman and had gotten accepted into Haven academy." Raven confirmed my suspicions of what she was going to say.

"...oh…" I quietly muttered as the pit grew even bigger.

"I had an inkling he would try something like this and when I was able to confirm my suspicions, I made the decision to come out here with the intent of killing him before he could become a threat to us down the line. And that brings me to my other reason in regards to why I brought you out here and have you be the one to do it. I wanted to teach you a hard lesson and I figured this would be the opportunity to do it."

"And what lesson would that be?"

"That if you want to survive, you're going to have to do things you normally wouldn't want to do. Sometimes even things you would hate to do." Raven bluntly told me.

"You didn't seem to hate it as you brutalized him during your fight." I mumble as I was slightly challenging her words again considering how she remorselessly dismantled Chatareus.

"You say that as if I enjoyed doing what I did." Raven fired back.

The way she responded to my remark provoked a slightly bewildered expression from me as she took it as a cue to speak up again.

"Simin, be honest with me. Do you think I enjoy doing what I do? Do you think I like killing people?"

"Well you told me last night that you feel no remorse for the things you do, so I wouldn't be surprised." I quietly answered.

Raven seemed to be slightly amused by my response.

"Well I don't." She simply told me.

"What?" I say with a slightly surprised tone.

"Simin, let me tell you something someone once told me while I was at Beacon: 'sometimes necessary evils are required to achieve a greater good.' In our case, our greater good is protecting our own and keeping the tribe alive, whatever the cost may be by any means necessary. You need to understand that just like every other person on this planet, I just want to live and protect those close to me. But unlike most, I am willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that I live and protect those close to me. Everything I do is solely for the benefit of the tribe. And if the tribe's survival means I have to kill someone..." She says glancing back at Chatareus' corpse. "...then I will do it without a second thought. Regardless of where you are in this world, you're going to have to make a choice between holding onto your morals or holding onto your life. And I've already made my choice a long time ago. I will murder. I will rob. I will pillage. I will burn. I will ruin lives. I will do anything and everything within my power to keep us safe. There are no lengths I will not go to for you all. And there are no ordeals I will not put myself through if it means keeping you all alive and well. I don't care how high the pile of bodies gets so long as none of you are in it.

"And as for my lack of remorse, it does not necessarily mean I enjoy what I'm doing. I don't like having to do these things, but I also recognize that if I don't put my feelings aside and I allow them to get in the way of what it is I am doing, I'd be putting your wellbeing and possibly even your lives on the line in the long run. In life, there will be times where you are going to have to make tough choices and do things that challenge what you stand for or even challenge your very humanity. And in times like that, we cannot allow ourselves to be slowed down or even stopped because if we do, then we will never be able to move forward. We'll just end up dying where we stand and we might even be taking our loved ones down with us. And that is the burden of survival. It's a dog-eat-dog world out here and you're going to have to be strong enough both physically and mentally and be willing to cross lines you normally wouldn't imagine yourself even treading. Out here, you're not just going to have to go far, you might even have to go all the way in some cases. So do yourself a favor and get out of your own way and stop holding yourself back. Don't be your worst enemy."

There it is. That familiar sentence. The same one spoken to me by my father and again by Mari. But despite them all giving me the same message, it's come with a different meaning and nature. When my father said it, it was about not allowing myself to get defeated and disheartened so easily so I could find the determination to grow and not be held down by my setbacks and weaknesses. For Mari, it was about not allowing my past actions define me today and use my past to grow and move on while not forgetting who I am. But Raven, when she says it, it's about letting go of any and all restraints while putting other things aside so that I can grow to protect myself and my loved ones at all costs.

But given my history, these three both align in some places and clash in others. Which makes me wonder, is only one of them truly right? Or are they all both right to some degree? But if that's the case, which one is most right? They all can't be equally right, can they? I have a lot of thinking to do later.

"Your father was right, you know?" Raven continued as her mentioning my father brought me out of my thoughts.

"About what?" I speak, slightly taken aback at her mentioning my father, let alone the fact hearing someone like her saying she agrees with him.

"About the fact that there would eventually come a day where being weak would no longer be an option and how you need to be strong enough to survive and fight for the life that you want and fight for those you want to live alongside." She clarified. "Simin, what are you going to do when someone stands between you and the life you want or poses a threat to your loved ones? Are you just going to tap their shoulder and ask them nicely to step aside, or are you going to move them aside? Even if they've done nothing to you, the fact they are in your way at all is still more than enough of a reason to fight as they are still standing between you and your goal. And just because they are not an active threat doesn't mean they lack the capacity to be one. In times like that, you need to step up because there might not be a better alternative if you don't. You're going to have to fight, scratch, claw, and in extreme cases, you might even have to kill. Which is why we need to remain strong in those situations and push forward through whatever or whomever stands in the way of that goal no matter what- if not for us, then for those we value. You may disagree with or even dislike what you're doing, but remember why you're doing it. And remember who you're doing it for. Do you understand now, Simin?"

I simply just nodded my head yes.

"If you understand, then say it!" She verbally spurs me.

"Y-yes." I say a bit sheepishly.

"Are you sure you understand?" She asked, trying to get me to sound more confident.

"Yes, Raven." I say a bit better this time.

"That's better. We need to work on your confidence more when we get back. Anyway, I'm going to go search Chatareus' body for anything that might be useful. In the meantime, I want you to take this bag and take anything you think may be of use from inside that house. And be quick about it. It's already starting to snow." She says, pointing at the wooden home on top of the hill as she pulls a sack seemingly out of nowhere and handed it to me. "That bag better not be empty when you come back. Do I make myself clear?"

As soon as she said that, snowflakes started falling from the sky like a bunch of leaves in Autumn.

"O-okay." I say completely changing my tone back to my sheepish one.

On that note, I quickly strolled up to the decrepit house. It didn't look much bigger up close as it did from afar and I could see a few icicles forming on the exterior handle of the door. Getting a closer look at the place did not do it any favors as it still looked just as dilapidated as it did from down the hill. Beside the entrance, closer to one of the exterior corners of the house, there was an old, metal tub outside that I assume was used for bathing and laundry with an old clothesline hung near it as well. I hope I can find something in here. I don't like what I'm about to do, but I've already screwed up enough and I mainly don't want to risk getting yelled at again by Raven. I'm already on thin ice with her.

I place my hand around the knob of the door that was barely on its hinges and I could feel the icy cold surface through my glove as I opened the entrance as the wood and hinges whined and I step in.

. . .

As I enter the house, I am immediately overwhelmed by a very musty smell that made it a little bit difficult to breathe without getting overwhelmed.

The whole house was actually very tiny and was literally just a single room about the size of my kitchen back in Dorado. The light blue paint on the walls was almost completely peeled off, revealing the naked, worn, wood underneath. The windows also looked very dusty around the sills as it looks like they haven't been opened in years, my guess being something to do with keeping cold air from getting in or simply because they wouldn't open. I could also see that the glass was very fogged due to the cold, but there was one that sat in front of a desk beside the entrance that had a small clear circle in the center as if someone had wiped it to look through. On one side of the house, there also sat a small bed with worn sheets and pillows with dark stains on them. Lastly, on the ground near the desk, there was a turquoise rug with a strange symbol on it. I can't really describe the symbol, but it reminds of waves crashing under the moonlight for some reason.

"How can someone live in this?" I think aloud. "I might have to be even quicker in here."

Upon finishing the sentence, I immediately hear the wind pick up causing the trees around the house to loudly rustle, the shack creaking around me so loudly, I almost thought it was about to collapse. The air also immediately got colder as well, causing a chill to run up my spine and the wooden door to close right behind me with a slow creak and loud click and leaving me slightly creeped out. Anyway, I have a task to do, so I need to start taking care of it. Considering the size of the place, this shouldn't take long.

On the wall by the bed, there was a picture that appeared to be in crayon and looked as if it were drawn by someone my age- maybe a bit younger. I hopped onto the bed to examine it out of curiosity and upon closer inspection, I could see it was of four people in the form of stick figures. There were two on the top of the page, both inside a cloud, that appear to be looking down on the others with the words "mommy" and "daddy" written next to them in not so great handwriting. The other two were at the bottom, one tall and the other small, labelled by the words, "Chatareus" and "Me". The larger of the two had a patch of viridian crayon on the top of its head meant to look like hair with an object in its hand that vaguely resembled the weapon Chatareus fought Raven with while the smaller one also had viridian hair in the form of what looked like a small ponytail tied by a purple bow.

This must have been Chatareus' family. The house looks completely empty, so I wonder what happened to them. Perhaps they all passed away and Chatareus was the last one left. But on that note, I guess that's the only thing worth noting on this side of the house.

As I deemed this side of the house not very useful, I turn around and head to the opposite end where there sat a wardrobe with one door. The other door was off its hinges and lying on the wall next to it. Inside there were some clothes that were either hung on a hangar or tossed to the ground. They all varied in size ranging from what looks to be Chatareus' size to clothes that look like they could only fit a child meant for a little girl to wear. But since the clothes were very raggedy, I didn't see much use on this end of the house either so I decided to head back to the desk by the door I had noted earlier.

As I headed to the desk and stepped on the rug, I could hear wooden rattling as if I had just stepped over a hollow area. I lifted the rug up to see what was below and I found a small hatch. As I lifted up the hatch, there was another tub, similar to the one outside, loaded with shucked corn and loaves of bread.

"It'll do I guess…" I mutter to myself as I lower myself and pull out a loaf of bread and open up the sack.

But before I put the loaf of bread in, I paused as I stared at it, contemplating what I'm about to do.

"Am I really about to do this? I always had a low opinion of bandits, but here I am taking part in something that is one of the sole reasons why I have such a low view of them. On one shoulder, there's a voice saying 'Just bite the bullet and get it over with.' On the other, there is a voice that is saying, 'Don't, Simin. Just because you're one of them doesn't mean you have to be like them.' And the former has Raven's voice while the latter has Mari's voice. I feel like I'm being pulled in two directions like a rope in the middle of a game of tug o' war."

But in the end, Raven's voice won this round as my fear of angering her even more was greater than my will to stick to my guns.

"Screw it…" I utter with a heavy sigh as I give in and begin to load the corn and bread into the sack.

With each cob and loaf I toss in, I could feel a weight on my shoulders gradually increasing. But I kept continuing until the tub was empty and tried not to think about it. After the tub was empty, I then closed the hatch as it let out a loud rattling thud and covered it back up with the rug as I moved on to the aforementioned desk by the window.

The first thing I noticed sitting on the wooden surface was a small plate with a cinnamon roll with a small bite taken out of it and a recently blown out candle laying at its side. Aside from that, I didn't see anything else noteworthy on the desk so I moved onto its drawers next. I slide open the one closest to the bottom as it gets stuck a little past the halfway point until I had to wrestle it loose and all that was there was a small pile of papers and a box of worn crayons. I decide to slide the drawer shut and move onto the next one and the first thing I noticed in that one was a pouch sitting in the dark corner with some string wrapped around the opening. Out of curiosity, I pull it out and open it up and shockingly, there was lien inside- and, in terms of value, a lot of it.

Seeing this immediately reminded me that I made a promise to Sophia where if I got her enough money to pay off her debt, she would stop calling me by that nickname she gave me, "Lu", and she would go a week without gambling. Hopefully she keeps her end or I'm going to be really mad at her. On that note, I take the bag and stuff it into the side of my left winter boot.

Before I was about to close the drawer, another thing catches my eye. It was an already opened envelope. But it wasn't some ordinary envelope. I could tell due to the fact the stamp had the image of something similar to a strange looking lamp. It's the seal of the kingdom of Mistral. Feeling inclined to get a look at the content of what's inside, I pull out the envelope and slide out the piece of paper inside and the first thing I notice is the word "Congratulations" written on the top in big, bold, cursive letters that would have been impossible to miss. Next thing you know, I begin scanning the words, line by line:

Greetings,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am proud to inform you that after your impressive performance at the entrance exams, I would like to congratulate you, Chatareus Moisia, on being accepted into Haven Academy. Here we will help you sharpen your skills and hone your craft so that we may groom you into one of the numerous huntsmen and huntresses sworn to protect this world and all those who live in it who are unable to protect themselves. As huntsmen and huntresses we all have a responsibility to uphold and it is our sworn duty as the teachers of Haven Academy to help you and provide you the tools required to live up to said responsibility. We will be looking forward to having you attend and I also look forward to seeing you, as well as the many other faces of soon to be huntsmen and huntresses, at the opening ceremony. With that said, we are glad to have you at our side to join our mission in helping guide the world to a better tomorrow.

Yours truly, Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart

Upon reading that, my stomach felt like it was plunging into an abyss as the feeling fully sunk in. It became impossible not to think about it anymore as the fact I am looting the home of a just very recently murdered kid who was trying to become a huntsman- just trying to help the world- burrowed its way into my brain and firmly anchored itself there. I then immediately stopped looking around and just decided to take what I had as I shoved the letter back inside and firmly gripped the bag of corn and bread and rushed out the door, the ground outsidealready covered in a thin sheet of snow.

As I head back down to Raven, I see that she's already finished looting the corpse and was already waiting for me as I quicken my pace a bit.

"Took you long enough. What did you find in there?" Raven interrogated.

"Just a tub of corn and bread… but that was pretty much it." I speak with a bit of a low voice as shame and guilt were the only feelings residing in me.

"That's it?" Raven asked to confirm with me.

"Yeah… That's it..." I confirm.

"I see…" She says as she sounds a little unconvinced, but ultimately decides to drop it. "Alright. Let's go then."

With that said, Raven pulls out her sword and swiftly swipes it downward, creating another one of her rifts and sheathing it as she takes the sack from me.

It's honestly so captivating seeing her just slice holes into the fabric of reality like that. It's both incredible to watch, but at the same time, very terrifying. I mean imagine if you're in a fight with Raven and you're trying to run away. There would literally be no escape, unless she runs out of aura. You could just be hiding somewhere and all she would have to do is create a portal and next thing you know, she's right behind you. Just thinking that makes her even more terrifying.

"Simin,..." She gets my attention. "I want you to know that I take responsibility for what happened today. It was my fault for keeping all the information from you and misleading you how I did. And I also should not have put you on the spot like that and assume you'd go through with it. It's clear to me that you are not ready for this yet." Raven pauses as her voice goes back to her trademark authority that she usually speaks with. "But… just know that if the opportunity arises another time, we will do this again and we better not have a repeat of today. Understood?"

"U-understood…" I answer, a little under my breath in response to what felt like a bit of a non-apology.

I assume this is the closest Raven has ever gotten to giving an apology, but I'll take what I can get. I'm genuinely surprised she even said that at all.

"I'm telling you this now so you won't have an excuse next time. So I suggest you start mentally preparing yourself. Now with that said, I think it's time we head back." Raven says as she gestures for me to step through the portal she had sliced open a couple moments ago.

"Get in." She orders me.

"Wait what? But where does it go?" I ask as I was a little nervous of stepping through the rift she had created.

"It'll take us back to camp. Now get in." Raven answers as she repeats her order with a bit more authority.

As soon as she said that, I immediately looked back toward the rift and thought it was strange how I couldn't see the other side of it, which made me a bit apprehensive. How does she know it'll take us to camp?

"A-are you sure it'll- ah!"

Before I finished, Raven placed her hand on my back and not so gently nudged me through the portal as I tightly shut my eyes and stumbled through, nearly falling in the process. I wasn't sure where I was, but I could feel solid ground below me and could hear the familiar noises of chatter throughout the camp. That gave me enough confidence to open my eyes and was both relieved and shocked to see that I really was back at camp, just like Raven said. Speaking of which, as I opened my eyes, Raven was already stepping through the portal with the sack over her shoulder as it closed up behind her.

"Vernal, Mari? Any problems while I was gone?" Raven asked as she turned to my right, which caused me to sharply turn my head in suit as I just now noticed Vernal and Mari standing a few yards from where I had landed.

"No problems at all, Raven." Vernal was the first to answer. "Everything went smoothly."

"We did have to break up another drunken brawl though, but that was about it." Mari chimed in to Raven, provoking a side-eye and a small elbow nudge from Vernal, which in turn, provoked an annoyed look from Mari.

"So the usual?" Raven speaks after the small interaction between the two girls.

"The usual." Vernal responds with a slight sigh.

"Good enough. Anyway…" Raven then proceeds to take the sack of food and hands it out to Vernal. "Vernal, I want you to take this bag to the food supplies tent for me."

"Got it." Vernal replies as she takes the bag and heads off while Raven turns her attention toward me.

"As for you, Simin, you're free for the rest of the day. That means our daily training will be optional for you today if you feel up for it."

Hearing that surprised me a little as I wasn't expecting Raven to go easy on me today after what went down this morning. Why is she being nice to me all of a sudden- or at least nice compared to her usual self? Is it because she's trying to make up for earlier? I expected her to be much harder on me such as give me a backhand to the cheek or go extra hard on me during training or yell at me to her heart's content or anything of the sort. But instead, she's been surprisingly lenient compared to what I expected.

"And as for you, Mari,..." She says, now turning her attention to the emerald-eyed girl. "... training will be in about three hours from now, so I want you to pass that information to Vernal and get some food in you, assuming you haven't eaten already. Understood?"

"Understood." Mari swiftly answers.

"Good. In the meantime, I'll be in my tent. I'm going to rest for a bit." Raven says with her back turned as she cracks her neck and retires to her tent.

Now it was just me and Mari, who was teetering back and forth on her heels and toes a bit. As I stood next to her, I began to feel a little uncomfortable and awkward as the guilt began to return and I also hid my right arm behind my back so she wouldn't see the blood on the sleeve. Even though I wasn't the one that killed Chatareus, the fact I played any kind of role in that scenario after the fact by looting his house disturbs me, despite the fact I did it out of fear rather than desire. After the trouble Mari went through putting up with me and just helping and being there for me, I can't help but feel I let her down today to some extent, even if she doesn't know it yet.

Eventually, after a few seconds, Mari would be the one to break the silence.

"Sooo tell me what happened, Sim. Where did you two go? What did you do?" Mari asks a pair of questions, hoping I could feed her curiosity.

"Oh, we.. um…" I mumble as I say this and avoid eye contact, which set off a red flag for her as she immediately became aware something was bothering me.

"Is something wrong, Simin?" She completely changes her tone to a concerned one as she calls me by my full name, something I noticed she only does when she feels something serious is going on or feels worried or concerned.

"No…" I answer dismissively as I was still refusing to look at her.

"Then why are you acting strange all of a sudden and hiding your arm?" She quickly called out my strange behavior.

I guess compared to how I usually am around her, my body language stuck out like a red flag. But I had no response and therefore stayed silent.

"If something's wrong, you can talk to me, Simin." Mari said, adopting a more nurturing tone and lowering herself to my level.

"I know…" I murmur. "But I… don't want you to be mad at me."

I don't why I said that. I knew that would only encourage her into prodding the answers out of me even more. But then again, that's probably precisely why I said it. I knew I didn't have the courage to tell her of my own volition. So I said it in hopes that she would try to encourage me to tell her. And luckily, it seemed like Mari got the hint as she went ahead with her questions.

"Mad at you? Why do you say that?" Mari responds a bit surprised as to why I would say that. "Simin, what single thing could you do that would make me mad at you?"

As soon as she said that, I slowly pull my arm from behind my back, revealing the ripped sleeve with noticeable specks of Chatareus' blood all over it. In response, Mari's eyes widened in shock as she quickly grabbed my arm and rolled the sleeve up.

"Oh my Gods! What happened? Are you okay?" The girl said with an alarmed voice as she turned my arm over, inspecting for any wounds.

"I'm fine, Mari…" I assure her.

"Then why is the sleeve all torn? And- and the blood…!" She sounds so concerned for me.

"The sleeve is from a hawk attack. But I've already healed from that. As for the blood,.. that came from a person."

Upon saying that, Mari instantly stopped and for a moment and then released my arm as the sleeve fell down to where it was as her look adopted a more serious undertone.

"A person?" She asks as if she were making sure she heard me correctly.

I silently nodded.

"What happened, Simin? Talk to me." She requested.

"Do you promise not to be angry at me?" I ask her.

I sound like a child about to confess to their mother to breaking her beloved vase. As I asked her, Mari reached for my hand and placed it in her warm palm and though she didn't give me a reassuring smile, her eyes were trying to encourage me to speak.

"I promise." She answered.

With that, I took a deep breath and told her everything as I basically vented to her. I told her about my talk with Raven before we arrived at the place. I told her about the fight and how she tried to make me kill him. And I told her about Raven's lesson and her sending me into the house to loot it. As soon as I finished, Mari was dead silent as if she were processing everything she heard.

"You're mad, aren't you?" I sadly ask her as I mistake her silence for irateness.

In response, Mari pulled me into a tight, yet comforting, hug as the petals from the lily in her hair brushed against the side of my head.

"No, Simin. I'm not mad at you." She softly spoke as she placed a comforting hand on my back as I slowly returned the gesture with a hug as well.

As she embraced me, I could hear her mutter something to herself under her breath that sounded something along the lines of, "What's Raven thinking?". Not long after she said that, she would speak up again, this time to me.

"Simin, I don't want you to ever feel like you can't talk to me about something, okay? Remember what we talked about: if something is bothering you or is on your mind and you need someone to talk to, just tell me and I will always listen. Regardless of what it is, I won't judge you. I won't condemn you. I won't be mad at you. I won't turn you away. I'm always here if you need me."

"Thank you, Mari…" I respond bittersweetly.

"Anytime, Simin." She answered back.

Just like mom, Mari seems to always have a way of making me feel better, whether it's just kind words or doing something like taking me for a walk. Honestly, I kind of needed this. Despite the fact I'm living among literal bandits, get tossed around on a daily basis with training, and everything that just happened this morning, it's nice to have a support like Mari around making it easier. She's such a genuine, kindhearted person.

"Um… Simin…" Mari speaks up, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes, Mari?" I reply.

"I already let go about six seconds ago…"

I hadn't realized she already released me as I was still clinging to her. Upon realizing that, I felt very awkward again and quickly took my arms off her, my face red from embarrassment as I backed off. Mari seemed to be a bit amused by my reaction as she let out a slight giggle.

"S-sorry about that." I stammer.

"Don't worry, Sim. It's okay." She let out another chuckle before continuing. "Now I want you to go rest, okay? You've had a very tough morning, so you should lay down and just take it easy for the rest of the day. Don't even think about coming to training later."

"Okay, Mari." I acknowledge before she continues.

"Also I want you to leave your jacket near the entrance to your tent. I'll be in there later to check on you and I'm going to take the jacket to Sophia so she can sew up those tears for you."

"That reminds me,.." I speak up with a bit of a tired voice as I am reminded of something. "...speaking of Sophia, do you know where she is?"

"Uh… Last I checked, she's over by her usual spot." Mari answers me as she moves her gaze in the direction she was referring to. "She was just finishing up a game so you might want to catch her before she starts another one."

"Thanks, Mari. I'm off now." I say as I jog off to where Sophia is as Mari gives me a distant "You're welcome".

Rather quickly, I catch Sophia just as her game had ended as people were starting to disperse from around her while she was in the process of putting her cards away. Before she notices me, I walk over and tap her shoulder from behind and she turns around to greet whomever she thinks it is.

"What is it - 'Lu'! You're back!" She says with a slight gasp in a bit of a surprised voice with her usual energy as if I had suddenly gone missing or something. "Need something?"

"I have your money." I get right to the point, completely skipping greeting her.

There was also a bit of coldness in my voice as I spoke as well since I just wanted to give her what I promised her and be done with it. I'm already exhausted as it is so I just want to get to my tent as fast as possible and lay down. Sophia didn't seem to notice I wasn't in the mood as she just pulled me into a hug, her face lighting up as I told her and accompanied by at least eight thank you's. I didn't bother resisting this time.

"Hey, you okay?" Sophia asks me suddenly without warning as she releases me.

"Why do you ask?" I ask her for clarification as I didn't expect to read me that quickly or that easily.

"Well you're usually kicking and screaming and trying to wrestle yourself free when I pull you in for a hug." She heavily exaggerates (though she wasn't too far from the truth).

"Sorry. I guess I'm just not feeling it today." I say as I attempt a bit of sarcasm that only ended up making me sound even more cold toward her.

"Something wrong? You're not upset at me, are you?" She asks me as she misreads the situation.

"No." I bluntly answer with just a single word.

"Then what is it-"

"Look, Sophia,..." I cut her off. "I've been through enough today and I really don't feel like talking anymore right now. Here, just take the money." I say as I quickly reach into my boot and pull out the small sack of lien.

As I did so, I noticed she had a look of shock as it seemed like she wasn't looking at the sack, but the arm I held it in. And at that moment, I realized I used my right arm to hand it to her- the same arm with the torn up bloody sleeve.

"Shit…!" I exclaimed in my head as I knew this was going to provoke a series of questions that I just don't feel like answering. I'm mentally exhausted right now and this is not a topic I want to visit again. I'm just going to have to shut her down however I can.

"How did you get this lien?" She asks me with a concerned voice as her shocked expression transitioned to a look of guilt for some reason. I could tell she seemed more fixated on my sleeve rather than the bag in my hand.

"Does it matter?" I coldly tell her. "I got you your money, so that should be what you care about, right?"

I know it was a bit of a venomous thing to say and a bit of a low blow that I'm going to feel bad about later, but at this point I was willing to say anything to get away.

"Ouch…" Sophia said with a bit of a hurt expression. "Simin, if you're upset just spit it out. I can take it."

"I'm not upset at you, Sophia." I try to dismiss.

"Then why are you being so cold? Is it because I got you invol-"

"Sophia, just take the damn lien!" I snap at her. "I'm tired, okay?! I'm just tired. So stop worrying about me. I just want to be by myself for a bit and lay down. I've had enough to deal with today. I got you your money, so just take it and leave me alone! And keep the promises you made me."

"O-okay…" She says after a small pause as she scoops up the sack with her hand from my palm. "I'm sorry, 'Lu'- I-I mean Simin… I didn't mean to get under your skin, okay? I was just worried is all. If you need your space, I'll let you have it. I'll get out of your hair."

I'm not used to seeing her so apologetic. I almost feel bad for it if I'm being honest. I'm normally not a short-fused person and I didn't really like yelling at her, but I just can't today. I need to isolate myself for a bit and unwind so I can cool down.

"Thank you." I say relieved that she's letting me go.

On that note, I begin to turn around as I walk away to my tent.

"Take care, Simin…" She says with a low voice and a wave.

"Will do." I give a slight wave back.

It honestly feels weird hearing her call me by my name now. But at the same time, it also feels refreshing. But as that was said and done, I leave Sophia in silence to be alone with her thoughts and her money, hoping that she holds true to her other promise.

As soon as I reach my tent and push my way through the flaps, I walk over to my trunk and pop it open to place my knife and sais in. After closing it, I then remove my jacket and toss it on top of the trunk and collapse onto my sleeping bag as I let out a very long pent-up sigh that turned into a groan as stress was being let out.

I don't know whether I should feel proud or disappointed. In fact, I don't even think I have anything left in me to feel anything right now. I didn't allow Raven to force me to kill Chatareus, but I still ended up looting the guy's house when everything was all said and done. It's like no matter what I do at this point, I'm going to be opposing someone, whether it's Raven and her cruelty or Mari and her compassion. They both care about me in their own way, I can tell. But I can also see that they both want two very different things for me.

I don't want to have to pick a side. But I'm starting to feel like a boat between two clashing tides. And eventually, I'm going to be forced one way or the other with no middle ground left to coast on.

**CHAPTER END**

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Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then I hope you had a happy December 25th!

Anyway, I'm sorry for not posting this chapter on Christmas. I originally was planning to post it on Christmas since it fell on a Friday, but I changed my mind about it because I wanted to do something special for my mother instead, so I didn't work on the chapter at all throughout the duration of that week. As for why I didn't post the chapter on New Year's, I honestly was just struggling with the ending to this chapter so I took a couple extra days to work on it as well as the dialogues because the original ending to this chapter was very rushed, so I wanted to flesh it out more. In the original draft, everything from when they return to camp to the end was originally just two pages, so I literally extended it to about ten pages when I was editing it.

Now with that said, we officially kick off the new year with the conclusion of Act 4 of this volume! That means we are now officially in anthology chapter territory. I'm honestly not even sure if I can even call them anthology chapters, but I'm going to call them that anyway because I can't literally can't think of a better word, unless someone has any suggestions as to what I should call them instead. I'm almost tempted to call them filler, but they're not really since they all do have some sort of impact on some characters or give more insight to other characters like Sophia, who will be getting a little bit of focus in this volume in the anthology chapters. Also my favorite Raven moment in this volume happens in one of the anthology chapters as well.

Here is the plan for the anthology chapters. Now by the time we reach chapter 16 of this volume, it will be taking place 14 months later after chapter 15 with Simin having already turned 10, turning 11 later that year. The anthology chapters are basically some of the things that happen during that time-skip. I plan on posting all of them in rapid fire, one after the other, which means it's going to be a while until the next chapters are out since I'm going to be editing all five (potentially four) of them completely before I post them. I'm not sure how long it will take though. With my next semester starting at the end of this month, it could be anytime between now and May, assuming my schedule will be flexible enough. I hope that I'll be able to work on them because I think you'll like them.

This is a basic run down of what to expect in the anthology chapters (while being as vague as possible because I don't want to give away much):

In the first anthology chapter, it's going to focus on Sophia, Vernal, and Simin as the three are going for a hunt and things go a bit south toward the end after a bit of a hiccup.

The second anthology chapter picks up from where the first one leaves off and this is the one that has my favorite Raven moment as she saves Vernal, Sophia, and Simin from a deadly encounter and Simin learns a very valuable lesson from Raven that he actually takes to heart.

The third one is Sophia's backstory (which is really depressing) that will also serve as setup for another oc of mine that will be debuting later at the tail end of this volume.

The fourth one is about Simin and Mari and it's a very laid back and very wholesome chapter where Simin gets sick and Mari's just looking out for him and it's the first chapter we get from Mari's perspective and we basically get to see her thought processes and a bit of what goes on inside her head.

As for the fifth anthology chapter, I'm thinking of scrapping it, but I'm not entirely sure yet. It was originally going to be a chapter that involved celebrating Simin's birthday and it was going to involve Vernal, Mari, Sophia, and Jeremiah. But then I thought it didn't make much sense and that it was too wholesome considering the setting is in the middle of a literal bandit camp, so I thought about scrapping it because a majority of the characters and setting did not fit with the overall tone of the chapter. But then I thought about just changing it to just Mari and Simin celebrating his birthday by hanging out at their usual spot and the two just have a talk. I'll make a poll on my fanfiction.net page for it (which will already be posted by the time this chapter is released) and I'll see what you all think on whether I should scrap the chapter altogether and forget about it or edit/post it as the alternative option with just Mari and Simin. 

Now for Act 5, the final act of this volume, Mari, Raven, and Simin will be taking center stage. I hope you like what I will do with those three and I hope I will be able to deliver with the ending of this volume and finish strong. Also Act 5 has four fight scenes in it and two of them are my favorite in this volume, which take place in chapter 16 and 19, and I hope you will like them as much as I enjoyed writing them. As for chapter 20, I'm about halfway done with the final fight scene. I might need to make some tweaks with Simin's semblance, but so far, I'm making pretty good progress with the scene I think.

Anyway, before I leave you all to work on the anthologies and the finale, here is fun fact number 16:

Fun Fact #16: Remember how chapter 13 was an insanely long chapter? Well it almost ended up being even longer because chapters 14 and 15 were originally part of chapter 13 and literally took up a fifth of the 500+ pages I had written of Volume 1 at the time (Volume 1 is now over 1,000 pages). Because of that, I literally cut chapter 13 into thirds, which is how chapters 14 and 15 came to be, and that was how Act 4 was made. So in short, chapter 13 was so long, I just cut it into thirds and made it into its own act.


End file.
